Full Circle
by Hecateslover
Summary: Harry and his friends twist magic upside down, and bring the rest of the world with them. AU, starting in first year. HPHG friendship, HP/NL, other pairings. Mentor!Snape. An old story, that people requested that I re-post. Discontinued. Sorry!


**A Full Circle Chapter One: Nature vs. Nurture**

"Correct, Mr. Potter!"

Harry gaped. He'd won the spelling bee. It was the last day of school, and he'd just won the school's fifth grade spelling bee. He hardly believed it! He had never won anything in his life before, and it was…wow. He let himself smile.

An older woman, who worked for the School District, shook his hand with a smile. "And you will get your prize!" Harry was excited. He hoped the prize was good, it was a big secret among the students… she handed him a folder, and he opened it, cocking his head. Inside were papers and brochures for a summer camp for gifted children.

"Mr. Potter, this summer camp is a great experience for any child of your talents." She smiled warmly. "You will be gone for the entire summer, making new friends, doing all sorts of fun things…"

Harry just grinned. "When do I go?"

Harry was silent on the way to the camp. Vernon hadn't been happy that Harry was going to this camp, but it was already paid for and he would be out of their hair for a while. Harry winced in pain as he shifted in his seat. His cousin hadn't been happy either.

He looked around as he got out of the car, grabbing his battered suitcase. There were trees everywhere, and he could see a lake off in the distance, past the cabins. He could see kids his age everywhere, getting sorted into groups. Vernon glared at him, driving off with out a word. Harry rolled his eyes, turning to the rest of the children. Since Dudley wasn't here…maybe he could make some new friends.

A camp Counselor, Becky, popped out of no where, making him jump. "Hello! I'm Becky, what's your name?"

"Harry Potter…"

She grinned widely, making a name tag for him. "You'll be in the blue jay cabin. You'll be signing up for your activities tonight after dinner, then we'll have a bonfire afterwards."

Harry nodded, watching her bounce off. She was just a little too hyper for his liking. He looked around, noticing a lot of the kids knew each other. He saw a girl standing off by herself, and he walked over to her.

"Hi…I'm Harry." She gave him a hesitant smile. "Hermoine. Nice to meet you Harry." Harry saw that she had braces, and wild looking hair, but who was he to say anything about wild looking hair? "So…have you been to a camp like this before?"

Hermoine shook her head. "No…I usually travel with my parents during the holidays…but they had to go to a conference for work this summer."

"Oh." Harry said quietly, looking around. "I've never been to something like this before either…it seems like a lot of these kids know each other already."

Hermoine nodded. "So…what activities will you be signing up for? I couldn't decide…I want to take them all, but…"

Harry chuckled. "I don't know. I think I'll go for the nature trail…and I was thinking archery…that would be kind of cool."

Hermoine nodded. "Oh, that sounds nice. I really want to go for the astronomy study and the horseback riding, but I heard from some of the other kids that only the…nerds go for the astronomy…" She dropped her voice to a whisper.

Harry bit his lip. "Well…I can go to the class with you…and you can sign up for something with me."

She grinned. "Maybe we can sign up for all of our stuff together!" She said, her eyes bright.

After dinner, Harry met his roommates, which were rather annoying boys that reminded Harry of Dudley and his friends. He definitely planned not to spend a lot of time with them. Everyone went over to the main cabin to sign up for their classes. In the end, Harry and Hermione signed up for Astronomy, Archery, the Nature Trail, Arts and Crafts and Horseback riding.

While everyone was at the bonfire, Harry and Hermione sat together on a log, and they both stared into the fire, rather drawn to it. "It's so pretty." Hermione finally murmured. Harry nodded. He didn't know why he was so comfortable around it…he reached forward and touched it. It didn't burn. He blinked in surprise.

Hermione gaped, and reached forward too. She giggled. "It sort of tickles. How odd." They both looked over to see another girl get a bit too close to the fire as well, but she was now nursing her hand, crying.

Hermione and Harry exchanged a look. Harry just knew…Hermione was like him. Strange things happened to her too! She motioned for them to leave, and they both walked out a little farther from the rest of the kids.

"You make things happen too." She said softly. Harry nodded. She grinned. "What have you done?"

Harry looked down. "Well…I was running away from my cousin and his friends…they're a bunch of bullies…anyhow, I just wished to get away from them and tried to jump behind some garbage cans…and I just sorted of popped onto the roof of the school."

She gaped. "Wow. What else have you done?"

Harry grinned. "Turned my teacher's hair blue."

She giggled. "I've done that too, except it was green and an awful neighbor boy."

They both laughed. Her brown eyes twinkled in a way that made him very comfortable. "You're just like me…I didn't know there was anyone else…I've been looking up things…the things we can do…I was scared…I thought it was all a joke…"

"But it's real. It happened." Harry said softly. "What have you done?"

Hermoine bit her lip, smiling. "Well…besides the hair thing, I…sort of have this photographic memory…it's rather odd really. And…I can make things float sometimes…some of the wiccan books I've read said you need a wand or something, but I can do it with my hand…I just have to try really hard."

Harry's eyes widened. "Teach me."

She giggled. "Harry…I don't know much…some of those things in the books are rather bogus, a lot of them contradict each other…"

Harry shrugged. "Then we can learn as we go along. Maybe this is sort of a thing that you have to teach yourself, yeah?"

She nodded, looking thoughtful.

The next day, they lagged far behind their hiking group, deep in conversation. "Like sometimes, I get the feeling that animals…understand me."

"Me too!" Hermoine gasped. "There was this one owl that wouldn't leave me alone. It was during the day, and I was walking home from school last year…it just hopped on my shoulder."

Harry grinned. "Well, I've done nothing that fantastic… I help my neighbor, Mrs. Figg, with a lot of her cats…they seem pretty smart to me…"

He trailed off as Hermoine picked up a leaf from the ground and held it in the palm of her hand. She gave him a small smile. "Try to float it."

Harry bit his lip, holding out his hand. _Float_. Nothing happened. He frowned.

"Try…thinking of the air around it. Kind of pushing it up, holding it in place." Hermoine said softly. Harry raised his hand again and willed it to float. It moved, just slightly, then slowly started to rise. They both grinned. Hermoine slowly moved her hand away, both of their eyes on the leaf now, hands out. Hermoine smirked as she pushed back against Harry's power. Harry gasped at the pressure. "Wow…"

They watched the leaf struggle up and down between them, and Harry pushed back, making it rocket up into the air. They both looked up, watching the leaf flutter back down of its own accord.

"Wicked…let's try to do more than one!" Harry whispered, grabbing a handful of leaves. Hermoine bit her lip. She'd never tried to do so many at once…but something told her that with Harry here, it might be possible.

They worked a bit more, and a little later were levitating the leaves all at once. Harry licked his lips, sending them into Hermione's face, and ran off. Hermoine gaped, grabbing some more leaves, chasing after him through the trail of the woods.

Soon they were sending leaves flying towards each other, whirling around them wildly as they ran through the woods, they felt so free!

The next day, they were being punished from abandoning their hiking group, so they'd been sent to clean out the stables. Hermoine made a face at it, but got to cleaning, and Harry did it without question, used to it. They glanced at each other and grinned. It had been well worth it.

The following week, they were in Arts and Crafts, sitting together in the corner. The other children had shunned them unceremoniously, especially when it was found out they were the only two to sign up for astronomy, and they didn't mind. It let them have more time alone, to study.

Hermoine was struggling with making her friendship bracelet. "Why is this so complicated, it just braiding it together...I keep getting my colors mixed up." She glanced at his, which looked perfect. She let out a frustrated cry.

Harry laughed. "Hermoine…there's a trick to it." He leant forward and whispered. "I'm changing my colors around so I can just use the same string, and it doesn't matter, the pattern is still there."

Hermoine's jaw dropped. "Oh."

She looked down at her bracelet. "Mine looks awful."

Harry shook his head. "It looks lovely Hermoine. You worked hard on it."

She huffed. "It does not. You're just saying that to be nice."

Harry grinned, sticking out his tongue. "Maybe I am." He snatched the bracelet, tying it off quickly and slipping it around his wrist. "But it still fits. Thank you Hermoine."

She rolled her eyes, grabbing hers and slipping it on.

After dinner, there was another bonfire, and Harry and Hermoine decided to experiment with the fire a bit more. They both slipped their hands into the fire unnoticed, since no one was sitting on their side anyways. It was pleasantly warm, and Hermoine was right, it tickled. Hermoine bit her lip, taking out her hand, but keeping a bit of the flames with in her hand. Harry gaped.

"Wow…that's amazing…it's like a cartoon…"

She giggled, tossing the little fireball to him. Harry gulped. "Careful Hermoine, it could still burn my clothes…"

"Oh…sorry…"

Harry narrowed his eyes at the flames in his hand, making them change from the orange glow to a red. Then paling it to a soft pink, then to white. He brought his fingers together, extinguishing the flames altogether. She gaped. "You always have to one up me, don't you Harry Potter?"

Harry just grinned, and with a snap of his wrist, the flames came back. She gaped. "You are definitely going to have to teach me that later."

"Of course."

Chapter: 2

**A Full Circle Chapter Two: Introduction**

They laid on their stomachs, side by side as they looked over their star charts. Mr. Craig, the counselor in charge of the astronomy study let them have at it, giving them the charts and small books on the stars. Hermoine and Harry were looking over their charts, trying to connect all the dots together to form the constellations. "Oh, here's Canis minor…" Hermoine said happily under her breath.

Harry leant his chin up on his elbow, watching her fill in the lines. This summer was turning out great. Too bad it would end soon. Just one more week until his birthday, and the day that the camp ended. Hermoine had promised to keep in touch with him…but it wouldn't be the same. They were so much alike, and Harry….would miss her. She was sort of like a sister…like his twin. Of course, they looked nothing alike, but still…

He sighed. She looked up, her brown eyes worried. "What's wrong Harry?"

"I was just thinking about when the camp ends. I don't want to go back to the Dursely's."

Harry said reluctantly, looking away.

She gave him a sad look. "I'm sorry Harry. Maybe I can convince my parents to let you stay for a bit…"

Harry shook his head. "No…I couldn't do that to you. You'll be going off to boarding school, and I'll be stuck at Stonewall." He made a face.

Hermoine sighed, making another diagram on her chart. "Well…I've always thought things have a way of working themselves out….and Harry…I don't think we could ever not be friends. I just know it." She gave him a small smile.

They day before Harry's birthday arrived, they were sitting on the edge of the lake, trying to push ripples through the water with their magic. "Harry…look."

Harry looked up to see Hermoine pointing to two owls coming their way, each carrying a letter. They exchanged a look, blinking in surprise. The owls stopped in front of them, long enough to take their letters. They both ripped the letters open and read in silence.

Hermoine was the first to finish, and her eyes were bright. "Oh my god! This is amazing Harry, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry… we can go and learn it all there…"

Harry frowned, folding the letter carefully back. "I wish I could go."

"Why not! You got the letter too."

Harry shook his head. "I don't have the money Hermoine. And my Aunt and Uncle would never pay for me to go to some school for Magic…they keep insisting it's not real…they already think I'm a freak…what would happen if they saw this letter?"

Harry felt ashamed, turning away from her, tears burning his eyes. He wanted to go so badly…

Hermoine hugged him, and Harry stiffened slightly. He'd never been hugged before. She sniffled. "I promise Harry…we'll figure out what to do."

She pulled away looking back down at her letter. "I don't know why I got these pamphlets with my letter and you didn't…it shows you where to go and everything…"

They both looked over the pamphlets together. There was something called the Leaky Cauldron, on Charring Cross Road, a gateway of sorts to Diagon Alley. There was a description of the many stores there. "Oh, look, a wand shop!" Hermoine squealed.

Harry frowned. "So…do you think they do all of their magic with wands?"

Hermoine shook her head. "Surely not, I mean, we're just kids, and we did it with out wands…maybe I can get my parents to take us to Diagon Alley later this summer, and we can get someone to talk to you about going to Hogwarts, you could sign up for a loan or something at this Gringott's place…"

Harry waited nervously, his battered suitcase at his feet, scanning the crowds for his Uncle Vernon. Hermoine was at his side, looking for her parents. She beamed, seeing them. "Oh, there they are Harry!" She ran towards them, hugging her father tightly, then her mother.

Hermoine drug them back to Harry, and Hermoine's mother smiled at the boy. She took note of his too large threadbare clothes and the battered suitcase. "So this must be Harry, the boy you wrote about all summer!" Hermoine beamed. "Yep! Mum, Dad, I want to show you around a bit…Harry…are you all right here?"

Harry nodded, scanning the crowd again. "I'm sure my Uncle's running late…I wont leave until you come back though, promise." Hermoine nodded, dragging her parents off.

"I'm a witch."

Her parents gaped at her. "Hermoine…we always knew you were special, but…" Hermoine shook her head, showing her parents the letter and pamplets. "These came yesterday. It was delivered by an owl!"

They looked to her in surprise, looking through the pamphlets. "Harry got one too. He's just like me…look."

She raised her hand to the nearby puddle, making the water stream over to her easily, whirling her hand around to circle her. Her parents stared. "Oh wow…that's real!" Her mother gasped.

Hermoine nodded. "Harry can do it too. We taught each other a lot of stuff like this mum… think about it, this could be so useful to learn…"

Monica and Wendell looked at each other for a moment. They had known that their Hermoine was special, but they truly had no idea…

"Harry! Harry!" Hermoine pushed her way through the kids and their parents, her own parents trailing after her. She was grinning widely, looking around for Harry. Her smile faded as she found him. Harry was still scanning the crowds, looking very worried.

"Harry…you're Uncle hasn't come back?"

Harry shook his head, trying to keep from crying. "He…He'd always said he'd dump me off at some orphanage….but I didn't think he'd actually go and…"

Her parents approached. "Harry…do you need a ride home or something?"

Harry nodded reluctantly. Hermoine frowned. "Why don't you just stay with us-"

"Hermoine…I cant do that to you…"

"Nonsense, if you're going to that school with her, I don't see why not." Hermoine's dad spoke up. Hermoine's mother gave him a Look, but smiled at Harry.

"Come on kids, into the car."

So that was how they were in the Granger's backyard that evening. Hermoine and Harry were tossing water back and forth to each other using the water from the pool. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were watching in awe. "Amazing, simply amazing…"

"So, can we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow mum? Please!" Hermoine begged, giving her parents the puppy dog eyes. They eventually gave in to the cuteness, and they agreed to go first thing in the morning.

They drove to Charring Cross road, and the kids spotted the Leaky Cauldron nearly right away, but Hermoine had to grab onto both of her parent's arms so they could see it as they approached. They walked into a crowded, slightly dingy pub. There was an old man at the bar, and Mr. Granger Approached. The man gave them a smile. "You must be muggles. I'm Tom, owner of the Leaky Cauldron."

"Muggles?" Hermoine asked curiously. Tom nodded. "Yep, non magical folk…and you're a Muggle born then, if these are your parents…" He glanced at Harry. "Who is your friend?"

Harry stopped his eye from traveling around the bar. "Oh…um, Harry. I'm magical too…I'm a friend of Hermoine's." He ducked his head, wondering why the man was looking at him like that.

The man raised a brow. _No, it couldn't be Harry Potter, Hagrid said last night he was going to arrive with the boy tomorrow…_

"All you have to do is go through the barrier through that door there." He motioned to the door, and the group went out.

Hermoine and Harry looked around in wonder at all of the stores and strangely dressed people. Hermoine got out her list. "We'll have to go to Gringott's first, and convert our money. Then we can go get our wands!" She nearly squealed in delight at the thought. Harry rolled his eyes, sticking his hands in his huge pockets. He felt terribly out of place here…everything looked so fabulous…he was just a scrawny kid in hand me down clothes.

They approached Gringott's and their group was slightly startled at the creatures guarding the bank. "Those must be the Goblins…the pamphlet said the bank was run by them.." Hermoine whispered as they passed.

They went into the bank, and for some odd reason, Harry felt drawn to one Goblin in particular. He was about to walk over when Hermoine grabbed his arm. "We're supposed to go over here to convert our money Harry…" She motioned to a long line to the side.

Harry frowned, looking at the Goblin. The Goblin glanced his way, then looked back down to his work. "I…I think I should talk to that Goblin over there. I don't know why. I…I'll be right back Hermoine."

Hermoine watched him go, dragging her parents to the line they were supposed to go to.

Harry made his way over to the Goblin teller hesitantly, biting his lip.

"Can I help you sir?" The Goblin said, looking down at him over the edge of his desk.

"Um…I was sort of drawn over here…I don't know why…" The Goblin looked at his face carefully, taking in the wild looking black hair, and the scar that was slightly hid on his face. "Mr. Potter." Harry started. "How did you know my name?"

The Goblin gave him a sharp toothed smile. "I am Griphook, handler of the Potter accounts. It was the bond that drove you to me, but no matter. Do you have your key?"

Harry's eyes widened. "Key? Why…why would my family have…were they witches too?" He whispered.

The Goblin chuckled softly. "Yes. I would say so, the Potter family is one of the longest lines of Purebloods since the Founders. I take it you were unaware of your family's status here in the wizarding world." He flicked his wrist, producing a key.

"Your key, Mr. Potter. And take care of it. This is to your trust vault. And…welcome back Mr. Potter." Harry stared as Griphook called another Goblin over to escort him to his vault. By this time, Hermoine and her parents made their way over.

Harry was nearly in shock as Hermoine approached him. "Harry…are you okay?"

"I…my parents were wizards Hermoine." Harry said softly, not noticing the attentive looks the Goblins both gave them. "I didn't know…"

Hermoine looked thoughtful. "So what's happening now?"

"I have a trust vault…I have money…that means I can go to Hogwarts!" Harry whispered. Hermoine hopped up and down, her frizzy hair bouncing as she grinned widely.

As they exited the bank later, Hermoine and Harry were still in shock. "You must come from an important family Harry, maybe we can find a book on your family history. Let's get our wands first though, then our other things before we go to the bookstore. I want as much time as possible there." Hermione's parents exchanged a look behind them.

They walked into the dusty wand shop. It looked empty. "Mr. Potter…I've been waiting for you…" Harry jumped slightly at the voice, seeing an older man shuffle out from the back with wide silvery eyes and white hair.

"Hmm…it seems your mother and father were here just yesterday getting their own wands…your fathers…hmm…. Mahogany, 11 inches, pliable, excellent for transfiguration…and your mother's…Willow, swishy, 10 ¼…nice for charm work."

He turned to look at Hermoine. "And you must be a muggle born...Miss Granger?" Hermoine nodded with wide eyes, watching the man amble over to the shelves.

They tried and tried wands, and they all seemed wrong. Harry was growing frustrated at not getting his after Hermoine had gotten one with Vine wood and a dragon heartstring core. Hermoine was quite happy to have hers, staring at it in wonder as it warmed in her hand.

Finally Ollivander grabbed a box. "I wonder…"

Harry frowned. He just wanted his wand, dammit…

Ollivander handed him the box, giving it to him. "Holly, 11 inches…supple, try it out."

Harry slipped into his hand and held it up. It went warm in his hand and glowed slightly.

"Curious…very curious…" Ollivander murmured.

"What is it sir?" Harry said, staring at the wand.

"That, my boy, has the core of a phoenix…one that just gave two feathers…I daresay…why, it's brother gave you that scar."

Harry's eyes widened. He looked to Hermoine with wide eyes. Hermoine saw how scared he was. "I think we better get going Harry, much to do today…"

After getting their robes, potions supplies, and other things, they spent the rest of the day in the bookstore. Hermoine immediately snatched a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_, as well as a _History of Wands_, _Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Greatest Wizards in Modern History. _On the other side of the Store, Harry grabbed all of their school books, along with all of the recommended and supplementary texts, and quite a few extras.

Hermoine was all ready to try a spell right there in the store, but one of the clerks walked by and stopped her. "First year eh?" She nodded excitedly. The clerk gave her a small smile. "Dear, the Ministry of Magic will send a notice to you if you perform magic…it's against the restrictions, you aren't allowed to do magic out of school until you're of age…"

Hermoine frowned, watching the clerk walk away. She walked over to Harry. "Harry, apparently the Ministry of Magic keeps track of our spells…why didn't we get in trouble for the magic we cast at camp?"

Harry frowned. "Well, it was before we got our letters…and we're here, so maybe it's in their jurisdiction…"

"I think we should get a book on the Ministry and a few others…we're terribly new to all of this, and it sounds like they've got laws of their own…I don't want to go breaking them all before we've even heard of them…"

They looked over the shelves for ministry books, and Harry found some in the corner of the store, surrounded by wizarding etiquette and cultural books. "Here… _The Ministry and You_… seems pretty good to me, I think it's for kids our age and all the rights we have as students." "Hmm, let's grab a few more of these books."

Monica came over seeing all of the books in their hands. "Hermoine dear…that's quite a bit.."

"Don't worry Mrs. Granger, I'm paying for some of this too!" Harry called out, his face hidden from behind his books. Monica hid her smile, going back to her husband.

Harry and Hermoine spent the majority of the summer in the back yard, reading. Monica and Wendell had rather hoped that a friend would bring Hermoine out of her shell, and it had, but they were hoping not for someone so…studious as her.

The boy was odd. He dressed rather poor, only getting new clothes after Hermoine had insisted on it. He was extremely quiet, except when he was around Hermoine. Otherwise, you would barely know he was there.

They still continued with their magic, with out their wands, once they learned that the ministry could track the spells they did on their wands. Which made no sense to them, if most people were so easily able to do things without their wands, so they mutually decided to keep mum about the fact they had the ability, until they knew for sure what exactly the rules were.

Then they had discovered about Harry's past. His parents had been murdered by Lord Voldemort, and Harry had destroyed the man, reflecting the killing curse…Harry was famous! Of course, the boy scoffed in disbelief, he was just Harry, he wasn't a hero…

It wasn't until they arrived at Platform 9 ¾ on September First that they knew any better. People had swarmed around the boy shaking his hand, only stopping when Hermoine drug him through the crowd and onto the train. They found an empty compartment and breathed deeply.

"I really am famous." Harry said in surprise, catching his breath. Hermoine sighed. "Well…I guess the books were right…I cant believe those horrid Dursely's told you that they died in a car accident…"

The train began to move, and Hermoine and Harry began to play their levitation game, moving several of their books back and forth. It was more of an exercise really, as they focused on precise angles that they turned the heavy textbook in.

The compartment door opened, and someone gasped before they let the book fall with a heavy thud. A blonde stood there, jaw dropped. Harry and Hermoine looked at him with wide eyes, then to each other, hoping the blonde hadn't seen too much.

"Is it true…you're Harry Potter?" The blonde asked, stepping forward finally as he glanced down at the book.

"Yes." Harry said, eyeing the boy carefully. He was already dressed in his school robes…and there seemed to be an air of money about him…

The blonde met his eyes with a slight smile. "Draco Malfoy." He held out his hand, and Harry shook it. The blonde looked to Hermoine. "And you are?"

"Hermoine Granger."

The blonde frowned for a slight moment, glancing down at the book once more. "Were you really practicing Wandless magic?"

"Yes." "No." Hermoine and Harry answered at the same time. They both looked to each other.

Draco rolled his eyes, closing the door behind him. "I see. Well, when you decide let me know, because that was really wicked." He slid into a seat non-chalantly. "Have you been doing it long?"

They both shrugged.

Draco pursed his lips. "Well…just letting you know, it's a rather rare ability. I didn't think I would meet anyone else my age that could do it." With a flick of his wrist, a ball of blue flame the size of a golf ball appeared in his hand.

Harry grinned, flicking his wrist as well, making a the size of a baseball of white flame. "Mine's bigger."

Hermoine giggled. She clapped her hands together, conjuring another ball of flame between her hands the size of a basketball. "No, mine is." Both boys looked to her in astonishment.

Harry smirked. "Catch!" Harry threw his ball to the girl, and the brunette threw hers to Harry. Draco's jaw dropped as they both caught the balls easily.

"You've must have been practicing for years…I heard you grew up in the muggle world Potter."

Harry raised a brow. "I did. I met Hermoine this summer at camp, and we started experimenting with magic…I'd never really tried to do something consciously before then though. The same with Hermoine here."

Draco nodded slowly. "Perhaps a game Potter. You seem to like competition."

Harry grinned. "Hermoine and I are highly competitive."

"Good. So am I." Draco smirked, banishing his ball of flame with a flick of his wrist. "Like I said Potter…I would be careful about who knows about these abilities…some would even call it a little dark."

"Dark? What are you on about?" Harry said softly.

Draco shrugged. "Salazar Slytherin was known for his wand less abilities. Not many light wizards do it nowadays Potter, with the exception of the Headmaster. So…what house do you think you'll end up in?" Draco said non-chalantly as he stood, leaning against the wall.

Hermoine and Harry exchanged a look. "Not sure."

Draco shrugged. "I'll most likely go to Slytherin myself." He smirked, seeing a look pass between them. "Oh, afraid of the big bad Slytherin?"

Harry laughed. "Hardly. Just an idea that Hermoine and I had over the summer…wouldn't it be better for this…academic competition we have to…study together? It's quite likely Hermoine will end up in Ravenclaw, and I'll probably end up in Gryffindor like my parents…if we had a Slytherin to round out our trio…it might make things a bit interesting…"

"Maybe, Potter." Draco glanced down to the book that had fallen to the floor. "If we keep training with…our wandless abilities together in private. What do you say?"

"I think we have a deal."

Draco nodded curtly, and opened the door. "I think Hogwarts just got a bit more interesting." And then he walked out.

Chapter: 3

**A Full Circle Chapter Three: The First Week**

As it happened, Harry was sorted into Gryffindor, just like everyone thought, and Hermoine was sorted into Ravenclaw, and Draco was immediately sorted into Slytherin. But the rest of the students would have been shocked to hear what the hat had told them, but the three of them kept that information to themselves for now.

Hermoine and Harry had a plan. And Draco Malfoy was just the start of it.

Although it would have been nice to have been in the same house, they knew it would be a better for their plan if they were in separate houses.

Harry looked around his dorm room that night silently. He was surrounded by overly loud boys, and he was already regretting going to the Gryffindor House. He was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

"I'm Ron Weasley." The red head that owned the bed next to his called out with a smile, dumping his stuff on his bed, searching for something. He immediately recognized the surname, as they were a pretty well known, but poor, family of the Light. Interesting. "Nice to meet you Ron." Harry said quietly. He knew the Gryffindors were extraordinarily happy that he was in their house, like he belonged. It was expected, even, since his parents were in that house.

"I'm Dean. I was all set to go to Eaton before I got the letter to come here." A black boy said, putting up a West Ham poster on the wall. Harry smiled slightly. Another muggle born, and apparently well off as well. "Nice to meet you too Dean."

"I'm Seamus!" A sandy haired boy called out to him, poking at Dean's poster, trying to make it move. As the boys started going on about quidditch, Harry glanced to the other boy in the room, who was staring out the window quietly.

"Who's that?" Harry asked Ron softly. Ron rolled his eyes. "Neville. He lost his toad earlier, I think he's a little slow…" He whispered.

Harry frowned, walking over to the boy. "Hi. I'm Harry." The boy looked over at him, giving him a hesitant smile. "Hi." Harry met his eyes…and he knew something was different about him. The same sort of look in Hermione's eyes. And in Draco's. This kid was going to be underestimated, he just knew it.

Harry looked out the window, and he saw a wide expanse of forest there, just beyond the Quidditch Pitch. "Wow…this is a great view."

Neville nodded. "I'm Neville. Neville Longbottom." Harry cocked his head, recognizing the surname. He couldn't remember where he'd read it before, but no matter. He'd look it up later. He went back to his own bed, opening his trunk. Ron gaped at the stacks of books Harry had in there.

"Bloody hell Harry, what do you need all those books for?" Harry laughed. "I like to read."

"Hmm, got any quidditch books?" "No…sorry, I…don't care for quidditch much." Ron gaped, as did Seamus. Neville seemed indifferent, and Dean didn't really know much about the game.

He felt awkward. He was sitting in the common room before he left for breakfast. Perhaps there was a reason why people were sorted into certain houses. It seemed all these Gryffindors rubbed him the wrong way. He glanced to the Griffin carving up on the wall. It seemed to look down at him knowingly. He looked away, looking to the staircase as he saw his roommates come out. He saw Ron strutting ahead like the lion he was, with Dean and Seamus behind him. Neville followed, his head lowered.

Harry stood and walked over to him, slipping his hands in his robe pockets. Neville looked slightly nervous. "So, nervous about classes today?"

"Yeah…it's so strange here."

Harry laughed softly, moving closer to the boy. "Yeah, know what you mean. I think there's something wrong with that Griffin carving over there."

Neville looked over at it, raising a brow.

Schedules were handed out at breakfast. Harry was dismayed he wouldn't have a lot of classes with Hermoine, but with Draco instead.

Hermoine was lonely. It was already their first week here, and she missed Harry. It seemed that red head, Ronald Weasley was practically stalking the boy, snarling at anyone else who got too close to him. Harry, the silly boy, didn't notice how the red head was keeping him from making friends.

She didn't really like her roommates. She didn't fit in. It was quiet, too quiet. And so dreadfully borning. And way too many girls. She preferred having boys as friends, they didn't gossip so much, nor where they so….malicious. A few of her books had already been 'borrowed' from her trunk. She was going to have to research on locking charms.

Draco and Harry had caused quite a stir though, in their first potions class. She'd heard that they voluntarily sat together, not only that, they worked together just fine! Of course, since they were merely first years, the rumors were just spread to the other first years, and a few second and third years. Draco was a Malfoy, and Harry was the Boy Who Lived after all.

Harry was a curious one to his house mates. Too quiet to be a Gryffindor, too studious. And he was friendly to Longbottom. Everyone else picked on the clumsy boy, except for Harry.

Hermoine finally caught up with Harry in the library, who was trying to help Neville with their potions assignment. Hermoine plopped down in her seat across from Harry with a bright smile. "Hello Harry."

"Hermoine, gosh, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever…"

Neville was giving them a curious look now, looking above his book.

"Oh, Hermoine, this is my friend Neville Longbottom, Neville, this is Hermoine Granger."

The two smiled at each other. "Nice to meet you Neville." Hermoine glanced to Harry, and he knew she remembered the significance of the surname.

"You're a Ravenclaw." Neville said quietly.

Hermoine laughed. "Yeah, my badge says so…" She giggled.

He looked to Harry. "So…how do you know each other harry? I thought you were raised in the muggle world?"

"I was. I met Hermoine during the summer. What's wrong with Hermoine being a Ravenclaw?" Harry said with a slight frown.

Neville's eyes widened. "Nothing! I mean…she's so nice."

The other two glanced to each other, and Neville added. "I mean…she's nicer than the others…I mean…"

Hermoine laughed softly. "It's okay Neville. My housemates aren't the nicest girls…they tease me too. You know, they stole my issue of _Transfiguration Today _this morning…ooh, I was so mad, but I don't know who took it…" She growled.

Harry frowned. "Hermoine…that's terrible."

"So, how are you holding up in Gryffindor Harry?"

"Awful." Harry said softly.

Neville looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean Harry? Don't you like Gryffindor?"

Harry looked down. "Not really. It's much too loud…our roommates are a little too crazy for me."

Neville nodded slowly. "I understand…I thought I was going to be a Hufflepuff, like my Mother…but the hat insisted on Gryffindor…like my father…I don't think I fit in."

Hermoine giggled. "We're misfits."

"You sure are." A voice drawled out. Neville sqeauked, seeing Malfoy walking towards them, alone for once. "Sorry I'm late, I had to get rid of Crabbe and Goyle, I swear those two couldn't breathe without me ordering them to." He dropped into his seat gracefully beside Harry.

"Granger. Longbottom." Malfoy said coolly, looking at his nails.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You can cut the pureblood act Malfoy. Are we going to start soon? I'm itching to try out some new things…"

Neville looked at them curiously, and Hermoine furrowed her brow, looking pointedly at him. "What about…"

"I think he's one of us." Harry said, looking to Neville.

Neville looked at them confusedly. "What are you talking about?"

Harry smiled. "Just…a feeling I have. Have…you ever done magic that you didn't think was possible?"

Neville's eyes widened. "No. I mean, I'm practically a Squib…"

Malfoy snorted, and Harry gave him a half hearted glare.

"Let's go outside…where will we not be seen?"

"The lake is too open. And the forest is too dangerous, it's forbidden." Hermoine said, looking to the ceiling of the library.

Draco swept a hand through his hair. "Well, we could go to an empty classroom and take turns keeping watch."

Harry frowned. "But if something goes wrong…no, I think it would be best if we started outside. I don't want to be anywhere near anything breakable, just in case." He glanced to Neville. "I have a feeling we need to be outside, just to start with."

The others nodded, and they gathered their books, going outside. They slipped behind the castle, going to a partially shaded area that seemed pretty empty. It was getting late in the afternoon now, and they would need to start soon if they wanted to get anything done before dinner, or their housemates started looking for them.

Harry and Hermoine sat on the ground, and Draco made a slight face before he did so himself, straightening out his robes. Neville sat down, completing their circle. Hermoine spoke first.

"Neville, have you ever tried to do magic with out a wand?"

"No…that's silly, everyone needs a wand to do magic."

Draco shook his head immediately. "Dumbledore does magic without a wand sometimes. My Godfather as well. I started working on it a little when I was small, just to see what happened."

He looked to the others. "And these two met and started doing it this summer. Apparently it's better to work with a partner, or in a group, because they've gotten farther in a few months than I did in years."

Neville gaped. "What…what can you do?"

Harry shook his head. "Not yet. We'll show you later."

Draco pouted at this, wanting to show off. Harry rolled his eyes. "Now…what are you good with?"

Neville frowned. "I don't know what you mean?"

Hermoine spoke up. "Everyone has something they're good with. I have an excellent memory, and I like to focus on my mind magics. Having things move, change size…it's sort of like I'm already working with what's there, but…tweaking it to do whatever I want to."

Neville bit his lip, looking to Harry. Harry gave a small smile to Neville. "I prefer changing the colors of things, also changing them like Hermoine, but I really like working with water the most…changing temperatures, things like that…"

Draco spoke up. "And I love to work with fire. It's such a rush-"

"Pyromaniac." Hermoine coughed non discreetly.

Draco ignored her, still looking at Neville, his silver eyes glowing. "And animals…there's just a sixth sense about them…"

The other two nodded knowingly, smiling. Neville looked at all three of them. Even though it was the first week of school, it was quickly established in classes that Harry was the smartest in their year out of the Gryffindors, and the others were most likely the same in their own houses…there was something a little…different about the three of them, their eyes bright, and they looked so…happy. Even talking about it changed their quiet demeanors already.

He could hardly believe that they thought he could be the same as them.

"I…can't do anything like that. It's impossible…you cant do magic with out a wand…"

Draco shook his head. "You're wrong Longbottom. I was doing magic far before I got my wand, and so were these two, and so were you. You just didn't realize it."

The blonde leant forward, pressing his palm to Neville's chest. "It's in here. Inside you. Your magic is a part of you, and the wand is just another tool for it. What do you think wizards did before wands were invented?" His voice was almost a whisper now, almost reverent. "Think of the possibilities to be unconstrained by spells….you could do almost anything…."

Hermoine and Harry exchanged a look.

Hermoine cleared her throat, making the blonde move away from Neville with a slight flush. "Sorry about getting in your space Longbottom."

Neville was breathing heavy now, the tips of his ears red. He always wanted to be stronger, not weak…make his Gran proud of him…be a true Longbottom.

"So…what do I need to do?"

Hermoine looked throughtful. "I think we should try something different. I was reading…"

"Here she goes again." Harry muttered.

Hermoine glared at him. "Before I was so rudely interrupted, like I said, I was reading about meditation…sort of finding your center. I've always felt my magic was part of that center…"

Draco cut her off. "I know what you're talking about, my Godfather does it all the time, it's part of the training for Occulemcy."

At the others confused looks, he went on. "Blocking your thoughts from others who can read minds. But before you can do that, you need to clear your mind, and focus deep inside you…I don't really know much, and I definitely know it's too advanced to have books on it here in the library."

Hermoine frowned. "well, we can just try it our selves." She grabbed Harry by the hand and moved on the grass to lie down. Harry lied down with a slight frown, looking up at the sky. It was becoming slightly dark and cloudy, like it would rain later tonight. Neville and Draco moved on either side of them.

"I think we should hold hands. I don't know why." Hermoine said softly, closing her eyes.

They all joined hands, closing their eyes, their breath deepening.

A little later, Harry felt a rain drop on his nose. Then another. And another. He tugged on Hermoine's hand, but she remained unmoving. He frowned slightly, keeping still, letting the rain fall on him.

It felt nice, once he just laid there. Neville's hand was in his, warm. He squeezed it slightly, and the hand squeezed back. Harry then focused on the rain falling on him, how the drops pelted his skin.

The feeling went away as he sank into his mind.

His shoulder was being nudged, and someone was talking to him. He slowly sat up, opening his eyes. Hermoine was giving him a dreamy smile, and Neville's hazel eyes were bright. He looked over to Draco, whose silver eyes were nearly glowing. They were all grinning now. "What was that?"

"I don't know. It's nearly dinner time, we should get back to the castle." Hermoine finally said. They stood slowly, feeling slightly light headed and weak. The rain had lessened now, and they were all soaked to the bone and had dirt and leaves all over them.

They took a look at each other and laughed. Draco sighed forlornly at the state of his robes. "I look awful…"

"Aww, the house elves will get it all out." Neville said, slipping an arm through Harry's. Harry glanced towards the round faced boy with a warm smile, pulling him close. "So…you believe me Nev?"

Neville grinned. What he'd experienced this afternoon was amazing. His mind was clear, he felt like he could do anything, and he felt so connected with these other kids….so strange, just lying out in the rain could do to you.

Hermoine slipped her arm through Harry's on his other side, then tugged Draco close. The blonde squawked, still allowing the brunette to pull him close. "It was wonderful. I think I kind of understand a bit more about what we can do…I think…." Hermoine whispered as they walked up the steps.

"I think that that was nature's way of telling us…to work with nature, not against it…do you understand?" Draco looked slightly confused, but Harry and Neville slowly nodded. "Like…not to manipulate what we've been doing before, but to…help it along the way." Harry said slowly.

As they walked into the entrance hall, their dream had been cut short when they were greeted by the stoic faces of Ron, Seamus, and Dean, along with Crabbe and Goyle.

"What are you doing with him!" All of the guys hissed at Harry and Draco.

Harry tensed slightly as Draco pulled away from their arms first, then Hermoine. Neville was still clutching Harry's arm, frowning.

Hermoine turned brightly to Harry. "Thanks for helping me Harry, and you too Draco…to think, I nearly drowned, I was so silly…" She gave a twittering laugh. "Thank you boys, for rescuing me, I better get to dinner!"

Harry gaped after her as she walked into the Great Hall. Draco quickly covered his surprise, turning to his friends. "What are you waiting for? Into the Great Hall." He Ordered with a slight smirk.

The blonde and the two bulking boys left, leaving the Gryffindor boys together.

Harry slipped his arm away from Neville's grip, and the boy frowned slightly. Harry gave him a small smile. "Come on, I'm starving…aren't you hungry Ron?"

Chapter: 4

**A Full Circle Chapter Four: Protection**

So it became a secret. They left all school house rivalries behind when they went to their hidden spot behind the castle, under the trees. Draco and Harry had a spectacular public rivalry, and they got a lot of practice dueling each other in the hallways in the meantime.

Hermoine was still lonely, using the library, and their secret meetings every Friday night after dinner as her escapes. Harry was the Gryffindor Golden boy, and Neville shunted to the sidelines.

But that was all different when they were alone together. Neville was learning quickly, as soon as he was able to get past his block of not using a wand, and with his friends' help, his self confidence soared. Hermoine, Draco, and Harry were still competing each other academically, and often switched in the top three positions in their year. Neville found out he was quite talented with plants, and wanted to share with the others his new Gift.

The day after Halloween, they met in their spot. Hermoine was curled up at the base of their Tree, twirling a strand of her curly hair around her finger. She felt so awful. That horrible Ron Weasley was so mean to her, and Harry was so busy trying to defend Neville from the Slytherins… and that awful troll!

She was so scared when Harry came up, she thought he was going to die…

She looked up to see Harry and Neville coming her way, heads bent and talking quietly to each other. Their arms were brushing against each other, their hands close. Harry looked up and smiled at her brightly. She started to bawl, running into his arms.

"Harry…I was so scared last night, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine Hermoine…" Neville patted her head. "Yeah, he was crying like a baby though last night." Harry glared at the other boy.

Hermoine frowned. "Why?"

"Nightmare." Harry said shortly. He sat down at the base of the tree, looking down. Neville settled next to him, and Hermoine laid down in front of them on her stomach.

"Harry…was it the Durselys?" She said softly. Harry looked away. "Some of it."

"And the other bit?"

"Green light. Someone screaming. I think it was my mother. I used to have it a lot when I was younger…"

Neville was pale, and he brought his hand to his mouth. "I'm terribly sorry Harry…" He pulled the boy into his arms, and Hermoine sat up and hugged him from the other side.

"Hey, don't let me interrupt your hug fest." Draco drawled, walking up. He glanced behind him as he sat down.

"Oh, come on, you want to join in too." Hermoine said with a wry grin.

"No way." Draco sniffed, crossing his arms.

Neville pulled away finally, but his arm lingered around Harry's shoulders.

"I was in the Greenhouses yesterday…and I did the oddest thing…watch."

He knelt in the dirt, bringing his hands together over it and closing his eyes.

They watched in wonder as Neville removed his hands slowly, a plant rising beneath them. He flicked the top of it gently with his finger, and the bud at the top burst open, revealing a milky white flower.

"Oh…wow." Hermoine breathed, eyes wide. They all knelt close to it. "How…how did you do that?"

"Well, in the greenhouses, I was working with some plants, and some of them looked a little…dead. I don't know why…but I started to stroke them a bit…" Draco started to laugh, and Neville glared at him. "Anyways, and they brightened right up. So I started fooling around with some of the extra seeds Professor Sprout had around…and there you go." He shrugged.

Harry grinned. "This is amazing… you're great Neville." Neville flushed. "It was nothing…I still cant get my fire to be like yours…"

Hermoine rolled her eyes, grabbing her book bag. "So, since we couldn't meet last night, we'll just do what we were going to do then." She pulled out a dusty book and a ton of white candles.

Draco frowned. "Granger…."

"We're just going to do a protective circle, nothing dangerous." She said softly to the blonde, trying to placate him.

Draco bit his lip. "But I don't think we're ready for this! I mean, the runes and spell work alone…"

"Not that kind of protective circle. This is just one based on our feelings for each other, that way we can tell if the other is hurt or in danger."

She glanced to Harry and Neville, who looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Hermione sighed. "There are quite a number of rune spells to do with protection circles, but this one does not require runes. It's basic at best, but using our emotional power, it should work. We can build up on the connection when we're older and have more experience…but for now…I just want to keep an eye on everyone…" She gave a worried look to Harry.

Harry gave her a small smile. "Alright Hermoine."

They set up the candles around them in a circle, lighting them. They all sat down and joined hands. There was a single candle in the center, and they all stared into the flame, drawn to it.

By the time they were finished, the candle was melted and the moon was high over their heads. They were oddly quiet. "Did you know we would exchange memories like that?" Draco finally asked.

"No." Hermoine said softly. Harry didn't meet anyone's eyes. "I think we should get to bed. It's far past curfew." He stood slowly, and Hermoine hugged him tightly. "Harry…I…"

"Please…don't say anything." She stopped, tears in her eyes.

"I love you, you know." The other two boys exchanged a look.

"I know. You're like the sister I always wanted. I love you too." Harry returned quietly, kissing the top of her head.

He looked to the other boys with a small smile. "Come here, you two." Neville hugged them both tightly, pulling Draco along with him. Harry smiled, burying his face in Hermoine's messy hair. With his friends around him…he was with family.

They snuck back into the castle, and made their separate ways. Neville and Harry were relieved when they saw the other boys asleep when they came in. Harry dressed for the night, and was about to get into bed when Neville walked over. "Can I…"

Harry nodded, opening his bed curtains and letting Neville inside. Harry closed the curtains behind them tightly and lay down. Neville slipped in beside him, burrowing under the covers. Harry set his clock, and Neville pulled him into his arms. Harry smiled into the crook of Neville's neck. During the summer, he and Hermoine laid like this together. It was warm, comfortable, safe. He felt hands go up and down his back slowly as the two boys drifted off asleep.

Neville woke up with something warm on his chest. He smiled faintly. His friend Harry. They'd been slipping to each other's beds when they could chance it, ever since the day after Halloween. It was the Christmas Holidays, and he'd managed to convince his Gran to let him stay at the school. She was understandably upset, but when Neville reminded her of his good grades and the fact that he was staying behind to keep Harry company, she relented.

So it was just them in the dormitory now. Except for Ron, but he'd run down to breakfast long ago. He looked down to see Harry asleep in his arms. He ran a hand through the boy's wild black hair, tracing his lightning bolt scar faintly. He shivered at the feel of the scar. They knew something was going on at the school, something to do with Voldemort. He could hardly believe that that thing was still around…he was terrified. He just wanted to make it go away and protect Harry.

He couldn't be there all the time though. He'd already been in the hospital wing twice, and Ron wasn't making things any easier. The red head strongly disapproved of anyone else being friends with Harry, besides him. Of course, Harry and Neville kept their friendship quiet. But Neville thought it was more than that, secretly.

He sighed, running his hand through the boy's hair, making Harry smile faintly. Neville could remember Harry's memories. How the boy had never been hugged until he met Hermoine, how he had to live in that dreadful cupboard, his desperation when his Uncle had left him at the camp… he wanted to take Harry away from them forever, and he was glad that Hermoine and her family had taken him in last summer.

Neville bit his lip, looking at the dark haired boy again. He thought Harry was terribly brave. The boy insisted that he didn't belong in Gryffindor House, and he knew why, he remembered what the hat had said to Harry…Neville was glad he didn't fight the hat. He wouldn't have this.

He silently kissed Harry's forehead, and the boy shifted in his arms. Neville smiled. He didn't want to get out of bed, but Hermoine and Draco were probably waiting for them. Hermoine had convinced her parents to let her stay, saying she needed to be with Harry. Draco had even stayed, telling his mother and father that he was going to get some extra studying done. It was a terrible lie, but it worked.

"Harry…wake up sleepy head…"

"Hmmm….five more minutes…" Harry murmured. Neville grinned. "Come on….it's Christmas."

"So?" Was the sleepy reply. Neville laughed softly, squeezing the smaller boy in his arms. "Hermoine and Draco will be waiting for us…"

Harry pulled away sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Neville sat up, the weight gone from his chest, watching the other boy stretch. Harry finally opened his eyes, and Neville smiled as he saw sparkling emeralds. "Have a good sleep?"

"Yeah." Harry grinned. "Happy Christmas Neville."

Neville grinned, pecking Harry on the cheek. "Come on, let's go! We can grab our presents and open them with the others when we get downstairs."

Harry paused for a moment, watching Neville jump out of the bed, rubbing his cheek. He flushed. _Hermoine kissed him on the cheek all the time, Neville was just doing the same_. He told himself, getting out of the bed and getting dressed.

When Neville and Harry walked out their portrait door, they saw Hermoine and Draco waiting for them outside, gifts in their hands. "Finally! What took you two so long?" Draco whined.

"We slept in." Neville said, grinning as he pulled Hermoine and Draco into their common room. The other two looked around at the décor. Hermoine made a face, as did Draco. "Very…red." Hermoine finally said.

Harry grinned. "I think that Griffin over there is possessed or something." He pointed to the Griffin carving overhead. Draco eyed it warily before dumping their gifts with the others. With child like joy they ripped into the gifts.

Since Ron was around, and some of the others in the other houses, they couldn't really be seen together publically, but it did make it easier to hide. They had a snowball fight that afternoon, and sipped hot chocolate in the kitchens afterwards.

Then there was the mystery of the invisibility cloak. Draco was terribly jealous of it, until Harry promised to let him use it from time to time when they were together. It would make things much easier for them to sneak away and practice.

Chapter: 5

**A Full Circle Chapter Five: History Repeats Itself**

After the holidays, their homework started to pile up. They spent more time studying together for their regular school work to keep up, hidden away in the corner. Neville was sneaking up in the class ranks behind the other three.

Hermoine finally started standing up for herself against her house mates, and they started to admire her for it. She eventually had a following of giggling girls, not unlike Cho Chang, but these girls were at least much smarter than Cho's ditzy girlfriends. Draco of course, continued to firmly establish his ranking as the Ice Prince in the Slytherin House. Harry was still the unofficial leader of Gryffindor, after Wood, the Quidditch Captain. Neville remained unobtrusive, letting Harry have the limelight.

He was there for Harry…who would have gone crazy with out his support. He cried at least once a week when they were alone about how awful and bigoted their house was, even unknowingly to the other houses. They wouldn't be able to do anything about that until they had a bigger following.

Harry laid in the hospital wing. Dumbledore had just left him, not answering some of the questions he needed answered, and the man had the audacitiy to practically order him back to the Dursely's for the summer.

Hermoine and Neville looked to each other in the Great Hall inconspicuously and Neville glanced to Draco. The blonde met his eye, then looked away. Neville walked out first, followed five minutes later by Hermoine. Five minutes after that, Draco. They could feel Harry panicking all the way from the hospital wing, and it wasn't a good sign.

They snuck in quietly, slipping behind the curtains that shielded Harry's bed. "Harry…what's wrong?"

"Dumbledore's making me go back to the Dursely's." Hermoine gasped, sitting at the end of his bed. "He cant do that."

"He can." Harry said softly, sitting up. Draco sat in the chair that Dumbledore had previously vacated, and Neville sat beside him on the bed, holding his hand.

"But…how? I mean, we can report it-"

"No, could you imagine what the Daily Prophet would be like if it got out?" Harry hissed.

"Well…My parents and I can pick you up from the Dursely's house during the summer. He didn't say how long you had to be there, did he?" Hermoine said, cocking her head.

"Hermoine…I couldn't do that to you…"

"Nonsense Harry…"

"You could stay with me." Neville said with a small smile. "I know Gran would love to have you come over…"

Draco looked away. They all knew his family would not approve of his friendship with the other three, they certainly wouldn't allow one of them to stay at his place.

Harry shook his head. "He said he wrote them and told them what's been going on…surely they cant be that bad?"

Hermoine rolled her eyes. "Nice try Harry, but you aren't fooling me. That was a lie, and you know it."

Harry shrugged. "I don't have a choice. I get the feeling he would know where I was and send me back."

Neville frowned. "Even if you told him the truth?"

"Nev…I have to choose between the protection from Voldemort or…it's not really a choice."

His friends looked down. Harry moved slightly over to make more room for Neville beside him, and Hermoine moved to sit on his other side. Draco moved his chair closer, and he grabbed their hands. They closed their eyes, and focused.

They all stirred at once as they heard someone clearing their throat.

Draco's eyes widened. "Severus! I…"

The man was standing in the curtains, looking at them oddly. It was a strangely intimate scene, and it reminded him so clearly of another group of four, about fifteen years before.

He closed the curtains behind him, and he knew…there was more to this story. It was odd, and now he could add everything up. The first week of school, he remembered Potter and Draco pairing together, having no trouble at all in his class. The next week, they were fighting, and completely avoided each other. He had no idea that Granger and Longbottom were so close to Potter, he barely saw them converse.

Very suspicious.

"I'm waiting Draco." Severus said softly, conjuring a chair at the end of the bed, putting up silencing wards for good measure. This was going to be an interesting story, he could tell.

Draco spoke up hesitantly. "Severus…you know how you do that wand less magic…" Severus' eyes widened. Where had Draco heard about that? He'd never shown anyone….sneaky boy. "Well, I started working with it when I was younger." He had to keep his surprise hidden at this. How much younger?, he wanted to ask. But he didn't.

"and…I saw Hermoine and Harry doing some of it on the train." Severus blinked in surprise over at Granger and Potter. Draco pushed on. "They met the summer before term started, and practiced together. We got the idea of working together, and Longbottom joined us in our first week here." He motioned to the pale round faced boy clutching to Potter's arm.

"Why have the public rivalry?"

They all looked to each other.

"Draco has a reputation. He is merely trying to uphold it." Hermoine said carefully. "Harry is also doing the same. They are expected to clash, as leaders from rival houses. I am supposed to…eventually become the leader of Ravenclaw. If you notice, all four of us are the strongest academically in our year."

Severus nodded. "You study togther." They all nodded. Severus nodded slowly. He looked to Longbottom. "And you?"

Neville smiled hesitantly. "I think I was supposed to go to Hufflepuff, but I didn't fight the hat like the others did. But…I think things happen for a reason." He glanced to Harry. "Harry would have gone crazy if he had to deal with Ron and all the other idiots on his own."

Severus raised a brow. "Fight the hat?"

Hermoine smirked. "Harry and I would have gone to Slytherin. But that wouldn't have worked. I'm a muggleborn, and I would immediately be ridiculed and never given a chance to prove myself. Harry…would have had a lot of people upset if he'd been sorted into Slytherin. By spreading ourselves out to other houses, we had more of a chance to make an impact in the future."

Severus remained quiet, deep in his thoughts. He looked to Draco. The blonde gave him a sad smile. "My father would have been terribly unhappy if I was in any other house other than Slytherin. I was nearly sorted into Ravenclaw."

Severus ran a finger over his lips in thought. "So why are you here now? Someone could have caught you as easily as I."

The all exchanged looks once more, and Potter looked down at the blankets. Finally, Granger spoke. "We were worried about Harry. Dumbledore just met with him earlier."

Severus furrowed his brow, and she pressed on. "He told Harry he had to go back to his Aunt and Uncle's…because of some blood wards or something."

Severus' eyes widened. That was some pretty…strong magic. He easily guessed why, and now could tell why Potter didn't want to go back.

He leant back in his chair. He should have seen it before. A brilliant muggleborn, a quiet half blood, a humble Hufflepuff at heart, and the proud pureblood…why must history repeat itself?

He strengthened the wards heavily, leaning forward in his chair. "You aren't the first Circle to have happened in Hogwarts."

"Circle?" Neville asked softly.

"Yes. A Circle of friends, close confidants…people who you can feel that you couldn't survive with out…" His eyes went sad.

"It was a secret. Your mother and I, Mr. Potter, became close friends before we started Hogwarts. In fact, I was the one to tell her she was a witch." Harry's jaw dropped, along with the rest of his friends.

Severus threaded his fingers together. "We started to experiment with magic at a young age. She had all sorts of grand ideas of how to manipulate magic, to bend nature to her will…she changed my life completely." Severus looked down, not looking at the children all huddled on the bed together, looking at him with wide eyes.

"I'd been sorted into Slytherin, Lily had been sorted into Gryffindor. She would have gone to Slytherin most likely, if she hadnt been a muggleborn, quite like you, Miss Granger."

He paused, thinking back. "We met Alice that year. A Hufflepuff, but an outcast like us. We started teaching her our ways, and she started experimenting as well." He gave a look to Neville. "She had quite a talent with plants. Did she pass it on to you?"

Neville nodded slowly, eyes bright.

Severus looked back down.

"We met Narcissa in our second year. She'd been teased by her older cousin, who was in Gryffindor. She was in Slytherin as well. As a Black, she had standing among the Slytherins, but her personality didn't fit quite in like her older sister's…Bellatrix."

Neville's eyes burned in hatred, and Severus looked away quickly from that.

"We made a Circle. We were nearly inseparable. However…we were openly friendly, and being alienated from the rest of our houses. I think that caused a lot of our problems later in life. We were carefully watched, and we had to disband it officially. Lily and I grew apart when she met Potter, after he…didn't want her to be friends with me anymore. Alice, of course, drove herself into her school work and eventually became an auror and married Frank. Narcissa….well, she was being brought up to be a proper Malfoy Wife." He gave a glance to Draco.

Draco looked at him sadly. "Why couldn't you tell me? Why couldn't mum?"

Severus sighed. "Your father. He never approved of our friendship with the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, especially a muggle born… we hid our abilities, fearing that they would be taken advantage of in the war." He looked sad.

"Could you teach us?" Hermoine said softly.

Severus stared at them for the longest time. Could he? Could he guide these children into developing their dangerous magic…he knew Voldemort would be back, the ordeal with the Sorcerer's stone proved it. He knew Potter would need it. And he had to protect his Godson. And Granger and Longbottom.

He finally nodded.

The children smiled. They were such little things, they hardly knew the possible dangers they could face. But he would protect them, if only to complete his vows.

"The night before term ends then. I will help you do the bonding ritual." He said softly.

"Bonding?" Neville echoed, eyes wide.

"If you wish to protect Mr. Potter, this is how you'll do it. If you are unable to communicate through owl post, and you most likely wont, with this Bond, you can communicate telepathically and help each other from long distances."

"Oh. Wow…"

Severus frowned, thinking of the three instances that their connection had faltered. Once, on Narcissa's wedding night. She'd voluntarily blocked it. They all knew why, but unable to say it. Another time, when Alice and Frank had been tortured. That link had died when Alice's mind became unstable. And when Lily and James had been sent under the Fidelis. Even her thoughts had been hidden, sadly.

The night of the ritual, they gathered in the forest. Narcissa had apparated at Hogwart's gates hidden by the darkness, her black robes covering her silvery hair. She approached their Circle Grounds deep within the Forbidden Forest. Severus had led the children there earlier, just as the sun was falling. Her breath caught in her throat as she approached the clearing. It was just as she remembered it.

Severus was preparing the ritual tools, submerging them in the purifying potions. Narcissa looked over to see four small robed figures off to the side, preparing the candles and the circle. Her heart nearly broke as she saw her son look up and see her.

"Mum." He whispered as he went into her arms, hugging her tightly. She kissed the top of his head. "Draco…when Severus told me, I was so surprised…I had no idea you had the ability…"

Draco laughed softly. "Come meet my friends."

He took her by the hand and pulled her forward. Narcissa saw a round faced boy with Alice's eyes and nose. "You must be Neville. You look so much like your mother." The boy smiled up at her, eyes shining.

"This is Hermoine Granger." She looked to the only girl of the group, with bushy brown hair peeking out from her hood, and warm brown eyes. "Nice to meet you ma'am."

"And Harry Potter." She looked in surprise to Draco. "You've written your father and I nearly every week complaining about him…"

Draco just gave her a grin. She looked back to the boy, and saw Lily's eyes. She felt slightly choked up, and couldn't help but stare. "You have your mother's eyes." She whispered.

The boy looked away. She went to Severus, who finished cleaning the tools. She arched an eyebrow at the athame. "Severus…we didn't do this one…"

"They need it Narcissa. I will talk to you later, afterwards." Narcissa grew alarmed. Using blood in the ritual could have unforeseen side affects, and the Bond could be much stronger, much more noticeable to those who could Sense it, especially when the children grew older. She watched the children kneel in the dirt, in the protective circle. Severus put the tools between them.

"Narcissa, could you put the runes down around them as you cast the spell, I need to instruct them." Severus spoke softly, clasping her hand. "Of course." Narcissa squeezed his hand, and started to work.

To Severus' instructions, they each slit their palms, pouring their blood all in one chalice, mixing it. They each drank it, then pressed their palms together.

A slow wind started to build up in the forest around them as Severus and the children began to join Narcissa in the spell casting. Narcissa's eyes widened as the runes began to glow. She glanced at Severus, and man was looking up at the sky. She looked up and stared. She'd never seen the moon glow so bright, nor the stars…clouds began to gather in the sky, gathering quickly. She looked back down to the children, their robes were billowing around them, their heads bent in concentration. One by one their hoods flew back, making their hair fly about in the wind.

Severus and Narcissa moved closer together, gripping their hands tightly, watching with wide eyes, their voices dying out. The children were silent now, unmoving from their positions.

A low roll of thunder came across the grounds. The candles' flames grew higher, melting them at an alarming rate. A crack of lightning made Narcissa jump at the sound, looking up in awe at the sky.

Severus pulled his arms around his her shoulders, holding her tightly as their own hoods fell away, making their hair fly about as well. They couldn't keep their eyes off of the children…the children…

The girl went down first, soon joined by the boys, holding onto each other in the circle. Narcissa went weak in the knees at the heavy magic in the air. She looked Severus in the eyes, and she saw something she hadn't seen in years. Hope.

They both fell to their knees as well, growing unconscious from the magic.

Chapter: 6

**A Full Circle Chapter Six: Summer**

Severus woke with something poking him in the shoulder. "Human. Wake up." Severus blinked, looking up at a palomino centaur. Narcissa was still in his arms, and she stirred, waking up. She pulled away, looking up at the centaur.

"The foals will wake soon." The centaur spoke, pointing to the children. It was near dawn now, and the sunlight was just hitting the tops of the trees, but it was still quite dark. They stood, brushing themselves off, eyeing the centaur warily. They could see others gathered all along the edges of the clearing, watching them carefully.

Narciss went to the circle, and gasped. "Severus…" Severus walked over and stared. "Oh my." The centaur trotted their way, looking down at the children.

"They must learn their Control over the summer. A wild foal stuck in the wilderness must be taught." Narcissa and Severus both nodded.

The children looked so…different. But at the same time, the same. Any regular witch or wizard couldn't tell something remarkable had occurred to these children. It could have been the subtle changes in their faces, the curve of their noses, the arch of their brows…but still…it was just this all compassing…power they exuded.

Hermoine's hair wasn't so frizzy anymore, it was still wild, but in gold and brown curls, long enough to hang to her waist, her skin almost an olive tone. She opened her eyes slowly, and her brown eyes showed wisdom and charisma in abundance, a fire dancing in her eyes. She slowly sat up, holding her head.

Draco was still an aristocratic male, but looked more like his mother now than his father, his pointed features softening just slightly. His blonde hair almost glowed white now. He stirred slightly curling into Neville's side.

Neville's round face was gone, and he looked so much like his mother in the face. His hair was all his father's, lengthened slightly just below his chin, just as Draco's did. There was peacefulness flitting across his face, and a easy going smile and he shifted closer to Harry.

Harry was…unbelievable looking. He had the most changes. His small frame almost feminine looking, and looking quite like his mother, except for his hair, which was the length of Hermione's curiously, and was just as wild looking. He didn't look so skinny anymore, but more healthy, a pink glow on his pale skin. He opened his eyes, drawing Neville closer.

"Children…we need to clean up the area and get to the castle…but we need to cast glamours on you first." Severus spoke quietly, seeing Hermoine examine her hands now that she was properly awake.

They made another plan. The children would communicate telepathically during the holidays to make sure Harry was safe. Narcissa would teach her son some of what she knew, and would assist Neville with his, once they talked to his Gran. Hermoine and Harry would be visited sporadically during the summer.

"_This is a stupid plan" _Harrythought while cleaning the kitchen one night after dinner.

"_Harry…I'm sorry, I wish I could be there for you..." _Hermoine spoke softly through their bond.

"_I could ask Severus to visit soon." _Draco said, sounding worried.

"_Yes. Please. And ask him to bring some healing potions and food. My cousin is on this horrid diet, and apparently they think I need to be on one too, but it seems my cousin will only go through with it if I get less than him..." _

"_Oh…Harry…" _Hermoine sounded like she was about to cry.

"_Don't cry Hermoine. I'm getting better at dodging my cousin now, from Quidditch Practice…" _

"_Ooh, I hate that boy." _Neville snapped.

"_Hi Neville. How's your Gran?" _

"_Fine. I should be asking how you are, Harry." _Neville nearly growled, and Harry got a strange warm feeling of protectiveness from the boy.

"_Fine. I'll be okay."_

"_We have to do something, I bet I could get my Gran to…"_

"_No Neville, I don't want to cause trouble. If she writes the ministry or Dumbledore, he'll want to know why she's writing him, and then we'll…"_

"_We get the picture Potter. We still continue on our merry little separate ways in public until we can get to the next stage…this is killing me." _Draco murmured.

"_Do you want us to end up like our parents? I don't. This is best for now. At least until we get more people on our side. Hermoine, are you keeping up with…"_

"_Yes. I've written the girls and keeping up contact with them. They've invited me to go shopping with them later this summer. How dreadful. Maybe we can swing it and see all of each other there..."_

"BOY! ARENT YOU FINISHED YET!" Harry's aunt petunia screamed. Harry grimaced. _"Have to go guys, the fish lady needs me. I'll talk later."_

"_See you Harry."_

Indeed, true to Draco's word, Severus came by one afternoon when everyone was out of the house. He was always careful about that, it made Harry think that the man either knew the Dursley's schedeule a little too well, or he watched the house.

Severus sighed as he saw the boy. "Kitchen." Harry led him into the kitchen, pushing aside the laundry he'd been folding. Severus watched Harry sit down gingerly. "Glamours off Mr. Potter."

The kids had figured out how to apply and reapply their glamours. They were seriously draining, and they could only keep them up when awake. It wasn't helping that Harry wasn't getting enough to eat, nor was he eating properly. As the glamours lifted, the boy sighed, his shoulders sagging.

Severus handed him some potions to drink while he attended to a bruise around Harry's cheekbone. They were silent. Harry already felt uncomfortable having the man deal with this, but he was thankful for the help. Since he'd gotten back, the Dursely's had been more vicious than usual, but at least he'd managed to get a proper room, even though it was filled with broken toys and locks on the door.

"What have you eaten today?" Severus said, turning to his bag.

"A grapefruit quarter."

Severus raised a brow.

"My cousin is on a diet." Harry said quietly.

Severus sighed. "You need to be on one as well. You cannot live like this, Mr. Potter. Your malnutrition has already stunted your growth when you were younger, you cant afford anemia as well." He growled, searching through his bag.

He had the boy stand up and take his shirt off. Severus frowned as he saw the boy's back. He shook his head as he wrapped a gauze strip around the boy. He knew he couldn't get a salve to take the boy's scars away, as he knew those muggles of his would just cause more injury to the boy. Maybe when the boy was older.

He silently handed Harry a case of calming potions, dreamless sleep, and numbing potions. There was also a jar of healing salve for his cuts and bruises. "This should last the summer, don't try to…hoard it. If you need more, let me know."

Harry nodded, not meting his eyes. Severus sighed. "I wish I could take you out of here, Mr. Potter, but the wards would let Albus know the minute you left." He looked away.

"There are some healing spells Lily and I learned to do when we were small. I wrote them down. I'll give you the book sometime."

Harry's eyes widened. "Thank you sir."

"Have you been keeping up with your practice?"

Harry shrugged. "When I can. I can't do much, with them watching all the time."

"Try to practice mentally over your bond with the others. Talk to them as much as you can….dont cut yourself off from them."

Harry nodded, watching the man pack his things up. "I've got to go, but let Draco know when to contact me."

In the end, Ron and his brothers decided to 'rescue' Harry. Not that Harry was ungrateful for the help, he just knew that he would never get any time alone at the burrow.

Then there was Ginny. She was a stuttering, blushing little girl with a HUGE crush on him, that Hermoine and Draco loved to tease him about. Neville had been oddly silent about the whole ordeal.

It'd been arranged for everyone to go to Diagon Alley to go shopping. Harry looked at the book list in disgust. From what he heard from Draco, Lockhart was a total fraud. No matter. He'd see Hermoine, Neville, and Draco that day.

Harry walked into Gringott's with the Weasleys. For some reason, he could feel the heavy magic in the air, it made him shiver. Goblins were POWERFUL. And they knew it too. He could feel all the Goblins starring at him out of the corners of their eyes as he came in, and it unnerved him.

He wanted to go down to his vault alone, but the Weasleys insisted on sharing a cart, not like he could refuse, could he? He was sort of ashamed of how much money was in his trust vault, seeing Ron openly gape at it. Harry internally sighed.

"_Ron's staring at my money in my trust vault."_

"_hmmph. He's just jealous." _Draco said smugly.

Harry didn't roll his eyes, although he felt like it.

He could feel Hermoine giggle through their bond.

_Bump into me accidentally outside the bookstore. Neville's with me. Draco's already there. It's terribly crowded, and people wont think anything about us seeing each other there._ Hermoine said.

"_Brilliant Hermoine. See you there."_

He didn't have to convince Mrs. Weasley much to go to the bookstore, as there was a book signing there by the great Gilderoy Lockhart. Indeed, the store was crowded, and Harry saw Hermoine and Neville nearly squished in the corner. Draco was with his father, glaring at Harry pointedly as he passed. Harry laughed internally, and he could feel Draco doing the same as Ron joined in on their glaring game.

He managed to sneak off to the side to see Hermoine and Neville. "How are you Harry?" Hermoine asked softly. "Fine…wish I could hug you guys, too many people could see. I missed you."

Neville blushed. "Missed you too Harry." Hermoine giggled, then they turned to see Lockhart.

Harry was shoved up to the front, cringing as Lockhart put his arm around him so they could take their picture together. Ew….

He pulled away quickly, dumping his new books into Ginny's cauldron, ignoring the fluttery look the girl gave him.

Then there was the stand off with Malfoy Sr. And Mr. Weasley. It was rather pitiful, two grown men brawling in the store…

Harry smiled faintly as he saw Narcissa come by, holding her son back gently by his shoulder. The woman's bright blue eyes shone as she saw him, and led her and her son away before anything else happened.

The Burrow wasn't all bad. Harry had some fun with the twins, they weren't as whiny as Ron, and from what he heard, they weren't as bigoted about the other houses as well. He had a few serious talks with them about house prejudices once, when the others weren't around, and they said that they were all students at Hogwarts, and they all needed their pranking fun. They would even prank their brother Ron if the school needed a laugh.

Harry thought they were talented, but not so much to do what he and his friends did. They could be good for their 'real' group later on, and they had their hearts in the right place, but right now they could join them in their 'regular' studying.

The train ride was dreadfully boring, with Ron there gabbing away at Quidditch. Harry was halfheartedly in the discussion. He only flew because everyone else expected him to. He loved to fly, it was amazing, but as a formalized sport…eh. Harry had somehow convinced Ron to get Dean, Seamus, and Neville to join their compartment, but he had the feeling that Ron wanted Harry all to himself.

Neville spent most of the time looking out the window at the country side.

Draco had stopped by, amusingly enough, when Harry was bored, and caused a bit of excitement. Crabbe had been bit by Ron's rat, Scabbers, and then Ron had been hexed pretty good. Neville was trying to keep himself from laughing aloud when Harry said he didn't know how to do the counter spell.

Classes started up once more, and Lockhart proved himself an idiot. Harry immediately knew the man was going to be a disaster. Ginny was following him around a lot, so he couldn't sneak away as much as he'd liked to. But Harry and his friends managed to secure their table in the far back corner of the library on Friday nights.

Fred and George had joined them, happy to work with the ultimate pranksters. They thought it was hilarious that they had the entire school fooled, especially the Potter Malfoy rivalry. Hermoine also brought along a first year Ravenclaw, who was an odd little girl.

"So, what's your name?" Neville asked, eyeing the blonde girl who had her wand above her ear.

"Luna Lovegood."

Draco snorted. "Your father is the editor of the Quibbler."

Harry gave the blonde a half hearted glare. Luna shrugged, getting her books out. "You may laugh, but I believe…"

They told a confused Harry and Hermoine about the Quibbler and it's reputation (when Luna was out of earshot). She was a good addition to the group though, already knowledgeable about magical creatures and potions, even if some of the creatures weren't real…and the potions were a bit too dangerous. Of course, that didn't deter the twins, and they quickly connived the little Ravenclaw into their pranking scheme.

Chapter: 7

**A Full Circle Chapter Seven: The Cuteness**

Harry woke in the middle of the night to find Neville slipping into his bed. Harry smiled sleepily, bringing the covers back. Neville raised a silencing ward around his bed curtains, and pulled Harry into his arms. Harry buried his face into the crook of Neville's neck as their glamours faded away, relaxing as the tension of the day lifted from their shoulders.

It had been discovered earlier that night at the dueling club that Harry was a parseltongue, and understandably, the other children were terrified of him.

"Neville?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay with me being a parseltongue?"

Neville was quiet for a long time. "Yes. It's part of who you are Harry."

Harry looked up at Neville's face. Their eyes met. "Thank you."

Neville ran a hand through his long hair. "Have you thought about cutting your hair?"

Harry shook his head with a smile. "I kind of like it. All wild looking. I think my long hair is wicked."

Neville chuckled softly as Harry sat up slightly. "Why…don't you like it Neville?"

Neville looked up at him warmly, his arms loosely around Harry's waist. "I think you're…beautiful." He said softly, going red. Harry blinked in surprise, before a grin spread on his face.

"Really?"

Neville wouldn't meet his eyes now, but he still nodded. Harry hugged the other boy tightly around his neck, their faces inches from each other. "You think I'm pretty." He giggled.

Neville rolled his eyes, turning on his side away from Harry, frowning. "Neville…"

"Please don't make fun of me Harry." Neville said softly.

Harry sat up. "Why would I…"

"Because…I…really like you. Like…like you. That way." Neville's voice dropped to a whisper, and the boy felt tears falling from the corners of his eyes.

Harry's eyes widened. He didn't know what to think. His Uncle... thought that homosexuals were Freaks, just like him…oh Merlin. He then realized he'd been quiet for a long time, and he started to reply.

"Don't say anything Harry…just…" Neville's voice sounded so broken, sad.

Harry laid back down and touched his hand between the other boy's shoulder blades gently. The boy tensed, and was about to move away when Harry grabbed his arm.

"I didn't know Neville…turn around. Please?"

The boy turned around, and Harry pulled him closer, wiping his tears away. "Please don't cry." The boy stared at him, and Harry sighed.

"I don't know what to think. I care for you a lot Neville, I've just never…thought about it before." He bit his lip. "I've never kissed anyone." He said softly, turning to lie on his back and look at the ceiling.

He felt Neville move closer, and before he knew it, warm lips pressed against his, just for a moment. Harry's eyes widened in surprise, and Neville pulled back, surprise on his own face. A smile grew on Harry's face, and he grew a little warm. He slowly reached for Neville again, slipping a hand behind the boy's neck and pulling him forward.

They kissed once more, and Harry pressed back. Harry closed his eyes, sighing as Neville pulled away slowly with a smile on his face. He laid back down next to Harry, and the two boys fell asleep, curling up together.

They hadn't told Draco and Hermoine yet. There was nothing set in stone, they didn't call each other their…boyfriends or anything. They'd only kissed that night, and hadn't since, and they slept together even more now, when they could chance it.

School was hard. The classes were easy, it was the students that were hard to deal with. Tensions were high, especially as people began to be petrified. The Hufflepuffs were terrified of Harry, and avoided him like the plague.

Draco and Hermoine were already at the worktable in Severus' private labs when Harry and Neville arrived. They were pouring over books. Severus looked up from his paperwork at his desk. "Hello you two."

He stood up, allowing the boys to set their bags aside. "Okay, today, we're going to learn how to control your abilities in a controlled setting." He motioned to the worktable, which had several cauldrons on it. "I want you to work on a potion together." He silently handed them the instructions, the name of the potion had been left off.

Draco frowned. "Severus…"

"Work on it together Draco. Use your abilities to prepare the materials, heat the cauldron, and mix it properly."

It was a complicated potion, and at first they were all trying to do different things at once, but they figured out soon to assign a person to certain tasks, telepathically connecting to know when to get everything prepared and when to do it.

Severus just watched with a small smile on his face. He and Lily did this often together. Narcissa and Alice didn't like potions as nearly as much as they did, so they only worked on them when they had to. But Lily and Severus enjoyed brewing and working together in nearly perfect Synchronization.

He wanted them to apply their talents in other ways, rather than just controlling magic freely. If applied a certain way, a breeze could be deadly. He knew Draco was quite proficient in potions already, and Miss Granger seemed to enjoy it quite well. But they were still quite young. They did have their electives to take for next year after all.

He knew Potter had a bit of his mother's talent, his work was usually flawless, but he didn't have hit heart in it. And Longbottom was dreadful in potions. He'd have to find something else for them.

Christmas arrived, and Draco had to go home. Harry and Neville were to go to the Ravenclaw Common room to open their presents together, as Hermoine was only Ravenclaw staying this year. A few older Gryffindors had stayed behind. Luckily, Ron hadn't, so the boys were pretty much free to do as they wanted. And that was why they were still lying in bed Christmas morning.

Neville drew back the curtains slowly, determined not to wake Harry, letting the light fall on the other boy. He sighed. They'd only seen each other like this in the darkness of night, they couldn't chance the others seeing them. Their glamours were still off, and Neville eyed Harry carefully. Whist asleep, Harry's shirt had ridden up slightly showing off his stomach. He hid a smile as he laid his head back on the pillows, pulling Harry close to him. They still hadnt told Hermoine and Draco. Harry was scared that it would be like in the muggle world, and Neville was afraid if anyone found out…

He kissed Harry softly. Warm lips moved under his. "Hmmm.."

Neville moved closer, running his hand through Harry's long hair as he deepened the kiss. Harry gasped, and Neville accidentally slipped his tongue through. Neville's eyes widened as he felt another tongue respond back. Arms slipped around his neck, pulling Neville on top of Harry. They pulled apart finally, gasping for breath.

Harry's green eyes glittered up at him happily. "Hmm…what a wonderful way to wake up." Neville grinned, rubbing their noses.

Meanwhile, at Malfoy Manor, Draco woke up slowly. He woke in a huge, extra large kingsize bed…with silk sheets and everything. The room was very large. Draco sighed, hugging the pillow to him. He missed his friends. His real ones, not the ones his father assigned to him. He sat up, running a hand through his hair. He'd been lucky not to have the house elves or his father come into his room while he was asleep, or they'd seen him with out his glamours. He applied them quickly, yawning as he got out of bed.

They were going to have to do something about those glamours…if they were ever seen….there would be a problem.

He got dressed for the day and went to the dining room. He kissed his mother on the cheek, her bright blue eyes warm, but said nothing. They'd gotten much closer after Draco's disclosure about his 'real' friends. Of course, Lucius knew nothing about it.

The man in question was reading the Daily Prophet, sipping his tea. A house elf delivered their breakfast, accidentally tripping over Lucius' shoe, sending tea over the man's lap. Both Draco and Narcissa winced as Lucius kicked the elf, dragging him out off the room.

"Happy Christmas Mother." Draco said softly, not feeling so happy anymore. He wished he was at Hogwarts. He wished he was with his friends. His mother knew this too. He could tell. She gave him a tiny smile, turning to her tea as Lucius came back into the room, putting cleaning spells on his hands.

"So, Draco, I heard you were second this term in academic standing in your year…who was in first?" Lucius said softly, his eyes shooting towards his son.

Draco looked down. "Hermoine Granger, sir."

"That mudblood? Draco, you know better than that!" Lucius admonished, eyes flashing.

Draco frowned. "She's a Ravenclaw sir. All she ever does is-"

"I don't care what she does, Draco, it's what you do!" The man took a deep breath.

"I think we need to have a talk." He grabbed Draco by the arm and took him out of the dining room.

Narcissa slowly set her napkin down, heart pounding. Lucius had been proud of Draco at the end of last year, for his high grades, despite the fact that Slytherin had lost the cup to Potter…she jumped as she heard a loud scream. Her son! She gripped the edge of the table tightly, trying to keep calm.

"_Severus, Draco is hurt."_

"_What's going on?"_

"_Lucius…he's…hurting him. I…I don't know what to do."_

"_I will arrive just a bit earlier than planned. I'll be there in half an hour."_

"_Thank you Severus." _

Narcissa stood from the table, going to her husband's study. She found her husband with his wand trained on Draco, the boy trembling and pale, his own wand on a small dog.

"Do it! You have to prepare for this one day Draco! He's going to come back, and we will be his greatest followers…"

"I…I can't…it's just a puppy…"

"DO IT! CRUCIO!"

Draco cried out again, clutching the desk.

Narcissa cleared her throat by the doorway, her husband's wand pointed to her automatically. "What?" Lucius snapped.

"Severus just firecalled. He'll be here in half an hour."

Lucius' lip curled. "How…convenient. Fine."

He flicked his wrists, sending the dog to it's death. Draco stared at it in shock, ignoring his father as the man strode out of the room.

Narcissa watched her son clutching the desk, staring at the dead dog.

"How…how could he do that?" He finally spoke.

Narcissa walked forward quietly, supporting him by his arm. "He…is a cruel man Draco. He always has been. Come on Dragon, I'll help you get cleaned up before Severus gets here."

Draco nodded, and they walked to his room.

Harry and Neville were walking in the forbidden forest, just having finished gathering ingredients for Severus. It was late afternoon, and they were enjoying the walk.

Neville glanced towards Harry with a shy smile, grabbing the boy's free hand. Harry smiled, twining their fingers together. Neville paused in his step, hefting his basket to the side as he kissed Harry softly. Harry smiled into the kiss, his lips warmed in the cool air. It was innocent and sweet, making the boy's hearts race.

A nearby noise alerted them, and they pulled apart. They saw a familiar looking palomino centaur coming towards them, his top half wrapped in pelts for the winter weather. They both looked at it warily.

"Mr. Potter., Mr. Longbottom." The centaur trotted towards them. "What brings you to the forest in this cold weather?"

"We were gathering supplies for Professor Snape." Harry said softly.

"You come to the forest often."

Both boys nodded, they knew it wasn't a question.

Firenze just smiled easily, glancing up to the sky. "The stars have changed since you came to Hogwarts. A time of Great Change is upon us."

He gave the boys a heavy look. Harry and Neville glanced towards each other. Fireze shook his head, his long hair shaking slightly. "Be wary of the castle, there is a monster there."

"Yes…Slytherin's monster…we don't know what it is, though."

Firenze gave Harry an indulgent smile. "I thought your little Circle was smarter than that Harry…if you're the only one hear it…and it is Slytherin's monster…"

"It's a snake." Harry said, his eyes wide.

Firenze nodded curtly. "The Acromantula grow restless. Be wary of where you go in this forest."

He gave them a small smile, looking down at their joined hands. "And may your Circle grow stronger. You are not the first. Have a good day." He said loftily, trotting off.

Harry and Neville exchanged a look, then walked quickly out of the forest.

After Christmas, time seemed to fly. It was awful, the petrifications had kept going. Harry grew wary of Ginny Weasley, she had taken stalking to another level, giving him a valentine…

"Haha, fresh as a green as fresh pickled toad…" Draco and the twins were going on about it that evening in their corner of the library.

Harry was flushing heavily, and Neville's eye was twitching. Hermoine raised a brow at Neville, and the boy immediately looked away. She frowned. The twins were packing up their books now. "Sorry mates, we've got to run, we'll see you around."

Luna's head was nestled in her arms, looking thoughtful. "I wonder why Ginervra would bother sending Harry a Valentine."

Draco and the others looked to her. "What do you mean? That little Weaselette has a crush on Harry…" Draco said.

Neville twitched. Harry grasped his hand under the table.

Luna frowned, glancing towards Harry. "Well, he's never shown any interest in her, that's for certain…you'd think she'd get the idea…"

Draco laughed softly, turning to Harry. "Maybe you can scare her off Harry-"

"Shut up." Neville growled. Hermoine eyes widened, and Draco blinked in surprise. "Did you just growl?"

Neville cleared his throat. "Sorry."

Hermoine crossed her arms, looking at the two boys. "What's going on?"

Neville and Harry flushed. Luna stared very carefully at an idle dust particle floating in the air.

"…nothing."

"Harry James Potter….you better tell me right now…"

Draco was hiding a smile as Hermoine slipped her wand out.

"."

"Come again?" Draco said.

Harry and Neville glanced to each other in embarrassment.

"Um…I don't like Ginny that way because…I like Neville that way."

Hermoine looked thoughtful. "And if I heard right, you kissed. How…long has this been going on?"

"Dueling Club." Neville mumbled.

Both of their friends gaped. "How…did you manage to keep this from us? What about the…you know." Draco said, glancing towards Luna.

"Because they didn't want you to know, silly." Luna said softly. "People can have secrets you know. I think it's sweet."

Hermoine giggled. "I agree with you there…aww…you guys must be adorable together…"

Draco grimaced. "No visuals please."

Hermoine rolled her eyes. "Fine, we wont damage your mind…"

That night, Harry slipped into Neville's bed once they were sure everyone was asleep.

"I'm sort of glad they know now…it felt wrong to keep it from them." Neville said, pulling Harry close as their glamours dropped.

Harry sighed, snuggling into the boy's embrace. "Yeah…" He kissed the boy's cheek. "Happy Valentines Day Nev…I think it was cute that you were jealous though."

Neville rolled his eyes in the darkness. "Go to sleep Harry."

Chapter: 8

**A Full Circle Chapter Eight: Summer of Wolves**

Harry woke in the hospital wing at something tugging on his hand insistently. "Why wont he let go of it?" He heard Dumbledore say.

"Maybe it's been spelled."

Harry recognized Severus' voice, as well as Dumbledore's and felt the cool metal under his hand. The Gryffindor sword. He opened his eyes slowly. He was in the hospital wing. Again. The tugging stopped and he looked over to see Dumbledore twinkling at him, and Severus. "Mr. Potter."

"Sir."

He knew Severus was there to make sure his glamours stayed up while he was unconscious, this was going to be a problem soon…

"You were quite lucky to have survived Mr. Potter…facing a 60 foot basilisk…how very brave of you." Dumbledore said with a twinkle.

Harry grimaced as he sat up, blinking in surprise as Fawkes fluttered to his lap. "The bird stayed until you woke. Just to make sure you were okay."

"What about…"

"Miss Weasley is fine, just fine." Dumbledore gave him a warm smile.

Harry looked to the sword in his hands, and Fawkes trilled happily. He tried to keep his surprise hidden when he heard the bird though.

_Ah, my little Slytherin in Lion's clothing…it is the ultimate trick…Albus would be horribly dismayed to find out that was really the Slytherin sword…_

Harry grinned, reverently running his hand over the sword. "I think that sword should go into safekeeping, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore reached for it, and Harry paused.

"But…I pulled it out of the hat."

Severus nodded. "There you have it, Headmaster. I think the sword belongs to him now. You cannot even remove it from his hands."

Dumbledore conceded. "Alright then, but do be careful with it Mr. Potter. It is a priceless relic of the school after all. Perhaps store it in your vault?"

Harry nodded hesitantly, looking down at the sword in his hands. Dumbledore was about to leave, but Harry spoke up.

"Am I to go back to the Dursely's sir?"

Snape glanced at him, then to Dumbledore. Dumbledore didn't look at Snape. "Yes, Harry. It's for the best."

Harry watched the man go with a slight frown. He sighed, looking back to the sword, then looked to Fawkes. The phoenix seemed to trill softly, and the sword changed. Instead of a gold hilt with rubies, it was Silver with emeralds, with Slytherin's name across it.

Severus stared at it reverently. "Oh…my."

Harry gave a small smile to the man. "I think this should go in the Head of Slytherin's Office, sir…just to keep it safe." He winked. "Oh, and there's 60 feet worth of basilisk skin, sheddings, and parts to deal with…consider it an early Christmas and birthday present for the next 20 years."

Severus sighed. "I knew there was some reason I liked you Potter."

Harry just grinned, setting the sword aside. His friends ran in, hugging him all over. "Oh merlin, we were so worried, don't you ever do that to me again!" Hermoine cried, planting kisses all over the top of his head.

Harry reluctantly went back to the Durselys. It was even worse than before, and he was usually fed through a cat flap in his bedroom door. He was only let out when Aunt Marge came to visit. She was getting quite tipsy and saying all sorts of awful things about Harry's parents. He tried to keep himself calm. All the dishes began to shake and rattle, and he whirled around at her.

"Stop it! You don't know anything about my mother!"

His aunt stared at him and screamed in surprise, as did the rest of his family when his glamours fell. He gulped. His Uncle was making all sorts of threats, and Harry ran out of the kitchen, running up to his room and packing his things.

He was sick and tired of these friggin' Durselys! And that was it with this glamour! He snatched his wand, aiming it at his uncle as he ran down the stairs, keeping it on the fat man as he backed out the door. His glamours were still down, so he was completely unrecognizable as Harry Potter as he boarded the Knight Bus.

He spelled them back on as he walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Tom paused as he saw the boy. He frowned slightly. "You seem to be in bit of bind…can I help you?"

"I need a room." Tom glanced down at his trunk for a moment. "Maybe I can firecall someone? It's awfully dangerous right now…" the man said slowly.

Harry paused. "Um…no…that's okay. I just need a room." Tom nodded in understanding, his eyes lighting up as he saw the scar. "Room six." Harry handed him an extra galleon to stay quiet, and the man nodded.

"_I blew up my aunt."_ Harry said through the bond quietly.

"_What? Harry James Potter…" _Hermoine yelled, jerking awake.

"_I'm sorry, it was an accident! And my glamours fell too…"_

"_Shit, Harry, what happened?"_ Draco said, waking up slowly.

"_Talking trash about my mum."_

"_Where are you? Are you okay?" _Neville asked worriedly.

"_If that fat muggle hits you, I'll AK his ass…"_ Draco muttered.

"_No…I ran away."_

"_HARRY!"_ Harry winced at all three of them yelling his name.

They spent the next twenty minutes deliberating over why Harry wasn't going to stay with any of them, and why he was staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Honestly, Harry just wanted a bit of freedom on his own.

"_Well, just be really careful Harry. We'll be checking up on you all the time, and we'll meet up later this summer."_

"_Of course Hermoine. I'll be fine. I'm better here anyways, I can pretty much do anything I want…"_

"_Ooh ,you can go to Knockturne Alley!" _Draco said gleefully.

"_Don't you dare!"_ Hermoine and Neville yelled.

Harry grinned as he fell asleep. His summer was going to be quite interesting.

First, he changed his usual glamour from normal Harry Potter to someone who looked…bland. Brown hair, brown eyes, no strong features. Someone who could be forgotten easily. He spelled off one of his house badges from his school robes, so he could walk around in them without being associated as a Gryffindor.

He grew to be quite a regular in the odds and ends shops, and the used bookstores, the mostly poorer places of Knockturne Alley. He quickly learned that not all of the people there were dark…just down on their luck.

There were quite a few werewolves that flitted around one of the pubs. Harry had gone there for a coffee one day when one of the Werewolves finally approached him. He knew right away who was a werewolf, and who wasn't, who was newly bitten, who had been a long while…he could just tell.

The one that approached him looked very wild, and there was something restless in his tell tale amber eyes. "Hi…I haven't seen you around here before. I'm Simone."

"Sean." Harry said with a slight smile. Simone sat next to him at the bar. "So…you're new..around here?"

Harry gave him a small smile. "Well, it depend on what you mean. If you mean, bitten, no. But yes, I've been only coming here for a short while."

The werewolf gave him a long look. "You're not infected. You must be a hell of a strong wizard then." Simone murmured.

Harry shrugged. "Some think so." Simone laughed. "You're just a kid, how old are you?"

Harry grinned. "How old do I look?"

"_Are you flirting with that werewolf Harry? How scandalous!" Hermoine giggled thought their bond. _

"_Not now Hermoine, I'll talk later."_

Simone's ears pricked up slightly. "Hmm…how odd." Harry raised a brow, sipping his coffee. "What is?"

Simone glanced around. Several nearby werewolves had stopped mid conversation, and were looking at Harry.

"You're part of a Circle, aren't you?" Simone whispered.

Harry's eyes widened before he could help it.

Simone laughed. "Don't worry, secret's safe with me. Wont tell a soul. That's quite rare that is…we pick up on it easily though…you're quite young to be in a Circle though."

He eyed Harry carefully. Harry hoped that werewolves couldn't see through glamours.

He didn't want to chance it.

"Well, I better get going…I'll be around though." Simone nodded with a slight smile on his face, waving him off.

Meanwhile, Draco was having troubles of his own with Werewolves. Fenrir Greyback was in his father's study again, and they were talking. Draco…did not like the man. It made him very uneasy that his father was even talking to him.

It wasn't just the fact that Greyback was a werewolf, oh no, it was the fact that he purposefully infected small children…and he even bit people in his human form, powerful enough to infect them even. It terrified him, and he hoped that that…thing wouldn't come near him.

His Godfather Severus had never liked werewolves either, but he'd never told Draco why. He just assumed it was some business with the Dark Lord.

Hermoine was lying on her bed, reading. She was currently reading a magical theory book on Wandless magic…and how it was nearly impossible. She snorted to herself, throwing the book aside. They weren't going about it the right way, silly people. She turned to lie on her back, looking up at the ceiling, her legs dangling over the edge of her bed. She idly wondered how Neville was doing.

Neville was breathing harshly, dodging the blows of Alastor Moody. He was an old friend of his Gran's and his parents, and the man had offered to help train Neville up a bit. His Gran watched them from the side, looking on proudly. Ever since Neville had joined that Circle…he had definitely changed. He was going to be a great auror someday, she knew it!

Harry smiled easily at a passing vampire, who playfully winked at him as she passed. He was at another pub in Knockturne Alley. He caught the greatest gossip here, and learned a lot about the darker side of the ministry, stuff that the Daily Prophet didn't catch. Sean O' Mally was making the rounds in Knockturne, and the werewolves and vampires loved him. They treated him like a precocious child. Although everyone knew he wasn't bitten (in both senses), he fit right in with them. He made them feel at ease, and visa versa. He tipped back his butter beer. He smiled at the bottle amusedly. The barmaid wouldn't give him anything stronger, no matter how many times he'd asked. Oh well.

Harry's mouth went dry as he saw Neville approaching him in Diagon Alley. He'd…gotten taller. Of course, Harry was under his Sean glamour, so he winked at him, pulling him to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Harry?"

Harry laughed, pulling him up the stairs to his room. Neville sighed as he looked around the dingy hotel room. "I don't know why you wanted to stay here…"

"I had the best summer ever, don't you dare ruin it for me." Harry pouted, letting his glamours fall. Neville's jaw dropped, and with a grin, he let his own fall.

They both stared at each other with a teasing grin. Harry grabbed the boy by the hand, pulling him to the cracked mirror on the far wall.

Neville wrapped his arms around Harry's waist. "You look beautiful Harry."

Harry flushed. He had been going out at night mostly now, and he hadn't gotten hardly any sun. His hair was slightly longer now, reaching just past his bum. He didn't know why Neville was looking at him like that, Neville looked so gorgeous with that beautiful tan and a bit of muscle from all that training…

Harry turned in Neville's arms, and kissed him languidly. He'd been getting tips from some of the vampires…quite a fun night, but back to the kissing. Harry felt Neville's grip tighten around his waist, and the slightly taller boy lifted him from his feet just slightly. Their kiss turned harder, and as Neville pulled away to catch some breath, Harry continued to kiss down his neck, nipping him slightly.

Neville's eyes widened. "Where did you learn that?" He said breathlessly, finally pulling away. Harry's eyes sparkled. "A few friends gave me some tips…I have plenty more." Neville shivered, bringing the boy in his arms again. "Tease."

Harry grinned lying his head on Neville's shoulder. Neville sighed, running his hand through Harry's hair. "Harry…you really need to cut your hair."

Harry pouted. "But…"

"If it gets any longer, you'll sit on it."

Harry sighed. "When school starts."

"Fine." Neville kissed Harry's cheek.

Harry squeezed the other boy, bringing up his Sean glamours again. "Where's your Gran?"

"Probably going crazy looking for me. Come on, I want you to meet her."

They came down the stairs, and Augusta was at the foot of the stairs, arms crossed. "I thought you'd be here…where's…oh." She gave a knowing smile to Sean.

"Nice to meet you." She shook his hand. "I'm Sean O' Mally, a good friend of Neville's."

"Of course, you play seeker…"

"Right." Harry gave her a grin. "So…Neville, how about some shopping?"

"Lead the way, I bet you know all the good places now…"

Harry grinned, passing by Tom, who winked at them.

Harry and Ron got onto the train compartment together, Harry putting up his luggage as soon as he arrived. He glanced to the corner, arching an eyebrow as he saw a sleeping man. Definitely a werewolf. Why was he here? He glanced to the man's luggage…R.J. Lupin. He blinked in surprise. Lupin was somewhat of a hero among light sided werewolves, the Educated Wolf.

He was one of the last wolves who'd been bitten as a child to get to go to a magical school, and to Hogwarts of all place, one of the best schools in Europe. Not only that, he'd gone on to get a Mastery in DADA, History, and Law. He was all set to be an activist at the ministry, but somehow he dropped off the face of the earth around the time Voldemort bit the dust. Or so the gossip said.

It was too late for his ministry job, as Madam Umbridge, aka The Bitchy Toad, known to by werewolves, passed her decrees in the aftermath of the war, making quite a large number of werewolves lose their jobs and hate her guts.

He sat down, glancing out the window. He saw a glimpse of Narcissa and Draco outside on the platform, and he looked away. Ron cocked his head at him. "You all right mate?"

"Fine…I wonder when Dean and the others are getting here…"

"Oh, Dean and Seamus are with Lavender and Parvati…don't know where Neville is." Ron said idly, picking lint off of his pants. Harry frowned slightly. Seamus and Dean would never voluntarily spend their time with the girls, unless they finally discovered the joys of puberty, but he still doubted it.

"Oh." Harry said softly. Suddenly, the compartment door spilled open, revealing Ginny, who was slightly perturbed at having Luna follow her into the compartment, and Neville bringing it up behind Luna.

"Hello Harry." Neville slipped into his seat beside Harry easily, and Luna slipped into her seat beside Ginny, who looked like she wanted to sit beside Harry.

"So, how was your summer…"

They made small talk for the rest of the ride, and rain started to fall hard outside the windows. Harry frowned. He shivered slightly. "It's a little cold in here…"

He and Neville exchanged a look as the train slowed. Harry winced as he pressed his palm against his scar. He could hear his mother's screaming now as a dementor came around the door. Lupin stood up, brandishing his wand. "Sirius Black is not here!" The Dementor pressed forward, coming towards Harry. Ginny was trembling, and Ron was shaking. Luna was clutching her ears tightly, eyes clamped shut.

Harry passed out as the man called out a spell, erupting in a silvery light.

He woke slowly, it was warm in the compartment and Neville was looking worriedly down at him. He could feel that his glamours were still up. He gave a grateful look to the boy, and sat up slowly. Remus was staring at him now, looking at him oddly. "Are you all right, Mr. Potter?"

Harry gave him a small smile. "Yes…whatever you did sir, thank you." The man gave him a small nod, handing him a bit of chocolate. "This will make you feel better." Harry crammed it into his mouth with a grin, already feeling better. Ginny was shaken up still. They all jumped as the compartment door opened, revealing a worried looking Hermoine. Ron and Ginny looked to her in confusion. "Is everyone all right here?"

Her eyes rested on Harry for just a moment, before looking away again. "Yes…thank you Granger." Ron said curtly. Hermoine pursed her lips slightly, then looking to the man in their cabin. "Oh! You must be the new DADA professor." Remus stood, shaking her hand. "I'm Hermoine Granger, and you are…"

Harry could see Ron and Ginny sniggering quietly, Ron mouthing 'suck up' to him, pointing the girl. "Remus Lupin." Hermoine glanced to Harry in realization, and quickly looked away. "Um, nice to meet you sir…I should be checking on some of the other compartments…" She twittered nervously, walking off.

As Remus closed the door again, he looked to Harry. Then to Neville. He frowned for just a moment, and was about to say something when Ron spoke. "Mental, that one. Why was she checking in on us? She's a Ravenclaw…."

Harry frowned slightly. "Hey Ron, maybe you, Ginny, and Luna can go check on Seamus and the others."

Ron looked like he was about to argue, but he shrugged. "Fine Harry. I know how you worry about everyone. I'll be back in a bit." He walked off, tugging Ginny along. Luna gave them a small smile as she walked behind them.

Harry turned back to Remus as the door closed once more.

"You're in a Circle. How?" Amazement filtered through his voice. Harry grinned. So many people were surprised how young Harry was when they figured out that.

Harry shrugged. "A bit of help." He glanced to Neville. Remus gave him a long look. "You're the Longbottom boy, aren't you?" Neville nodded.

"And…that girl, Hermoine Granger, she was in it too, wasn't she?"

Harry nodded. "Yep."

"Does Dumbledore know?" Remus asked softly running a hand through his grey and brown hair.

"No. And we don't want him to know." Harry gave him a heavy look. The man arched his brow, looking surprised. "I wont even ask." He murmured.

Neville sighed, looking to Harry. "Are you really okay?" Harry shrugged, looking down. "I'm really tired."

Neville's lips thinned. "You are going straight to bed right after dinner."

"But Nev…"

Remus smiled a bit. "So…is that blonde girl in your group? She seemed like she knew something, but I wasn't sure."

Harry and Neville exchanged a look. "We're considering adding her…maybe next year. She's a year younger than us, but plenty smart. We have an unofficial study group for those we think might be interested, and she's in it. None of them know it's a Circle."

"I get the feeling Mr. And Ms. Weasley have no idea. They didn't seem to like Granger."

"No. They don't. It would never work with them anyways. And they don't really like anyone outside their house." Harry said shortly.

Remus looked thoughtful. "Anyone else?"

"Draco Malfoy." Neville said with a grin.

"Lucius Malfoy's son? Really?"

They both nodded. "He and Harry have a huge rivalry thing going in public, so be prepared to dock off some points from dueling for us…hey, we have to practice sometime!" Harry said with a grin.

The Professor laughed. "You remind me of your mother…" the laughter died in his eyes as he looked away.

"You were friends, sir?"

"Quite close. I was even closer to your father."

"Like a pack mate?" Harry said quietly.

The man looked back at him in surprise. "How did you…"

"Hung around with a few werewolves this summer, they could totally tell I was in a Circle. With the amber eyes and…your magic, it wasn't a hard guess. I could tell when I walked in." Harry said softly. The man looked slightly worried.

"Not that any of the other students would tell. It would be just us in the Circle." Neville added carefully, seeing the worry in the man's eyes.

Remus looked away.

Harry sighed, looking to Neville. "Neville…I'm going to take a nap, when the others get back…please tell them not to wake me."

Neville nodded, squeezing his hand. "I'll try, but you know how persistent Ron is."

Chapter: 9

**A Full Circle Chapter Nine: Slowly but Surely**

Draco was scared. Their new DADA professor was a werewolf. His summer with Greyback coming back and forth hadn't helped matters, and the others in the Circle kept insisting that Remus was fine.

As a teacher, he was great. Of course he had to put up a front with his fellow Slytherins against the man, but…it still unsettled him. The werewolf had stared right at him when he entered the room, then avoided his eyes for the rest of the class.

Harry and Severus dueled each other, steel against steel, in their clearing the forest. Neville and Draco were doing the same nearby, and Hermoine was idly making runes in the dirt as she went over them in her mind.

"Are you crazy, Lupin is dangerous, how could you consider thinking about having him help the Circle!" Severus snarled, bearing back on Harry. Harry gasped, avoiding the clash. "He knows about it, and he has a Mastery in DADA and-"

"Yes, I know, but-"

They all went still as the trees rustled close by, revealing Remus. He frowned, seeing Snape. "So, he's helping you." The man nearly growled. Severus tensed.

Harry and Draco looked between the two men worriedly. They looked like they were going to fight any moment. As Snape stepped forward, Harry flicked the Slytherin sword in front of him, making him stop. Severus glared at Harry, backing off.

"I have work to do. I will…see you next week." Severus said shortly, adjusting his robes and gathering his things. He stalked off quickly.

The students walked toward Remus, and stared at them in awe. Their glamours had been removed, and it was the first time he'd seen them with out them.

Draco's hair was still a glowing white, just brushing halfway down his neck. His features had developed even more into Narcissa's as he grew older, except for his father's silver eyes, which nearly glowed mercury in the moonlight. He was slightly broader and taller, of course, than he'd been when he was eleven.

Hermoine had shot up like a weed, and she was taller than Harry now, just slightly shorter than the other two boys. She'd cut her hair so that it was long enough to hang halfway down her back now, and was piled up high on her head in a messy ponytail. Her skin had gotten darker as she had gotten older, and her brown eyes glowed a soft golden brown.

Neville put an arm around Harry's shoulders. He'd done the most physical training over the summer, so he'd bulked up a bit. Where Draco was lithe, and Harry slender, Neville was broad. He had a deep tan left over from the summer, which would probably fade by Christmas. His brown and gold hair just brushed his shoulders slightly, and made him look much older than his thirteen years.

Harry was the most attractive of the bunch, even though he didn't think so, with his doe like glittering green eyes. He slowly wrapped a thin arm around Neville's waist, his wild long hair slipping out of it's ponytail. They were all dressed in their school robes, the only signification that they were still children, in Remus' eyes. But…emotionally? No. Not children. So…yes, he was in awe of this quartet.

So it was understandable when he gave them a respectful bow and said four words. "I will Follow you."

The others glanced to each other in surprise. Narcissa and Severus hadnt told them anything like that. Remus saw their confused looks, and sat them down.

"The Circle has a long history. Werewolves and Vampires are naturally attuned to it, as we are most sensitive that most, and especially at night, when most Circles are active. It was rumored that the Founders themselves were a Circle, but the Ministry claimed them as myths a long time ago…anyways, some Circles tend to keep to themselves, often becoming hermits."

Remus looked thoughtful. "They are generally pretty powerful…but your group is…more powerful than most. I can just…tell. The groups themselves are pretty rare, even rarer to find in society, and generally comprised of older witches and wizards…which is why I was so surprised to see your group."

Draco and Hermoine exchanged a look. "So…what did that mean earlier? When you said…"

"I was formally stating my allegiance." Remus looked to Harry. "Even if you weren't in a Circle Harry, I would still be loyal to you, as a cub of my pack."

"Cub?" Harry asked softly. Neville squeezed his arm. Remus caught it, but looked away.

"Your father and his friends were my best friends. They joined me when I transformed after they became animagi."

They all gasped. "Animagi?"

Hermoine frowned. "I looked in the registry back in first year for McGonnagal, and Harry's dad's name wasn't on the list…."

Draco and Harry grinned widely, soon joined by Neville. "Wicked."

Hermoine rolled her eyes.

"Could you teach us how to become animagi?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Remus bit his lip, looking down. "I…I don't know. It took them nearly 2 years to manage it…but you have the ability…I don't see why you can't try."

The kids grinned widely. Remus raised a hand. "But…"

"There's always a but." Draco muttered.

"But, you'll have to read up on all the theory and spells before you even think about transforming, and you'll only do that when I'm with you. Deal?"

They all nodded.

Hermoine went back to her runes, and Neville and Draco went back to sparring. Remus cocked his head at Harry. "You and Neville?"

Harry flushed. "How did you…"

"One of the curses and disadvantages of a werewolf. You're quite lucky Harry, I'll just say that. It seems pretty strong between you two…" Remus furrowed his brow. "You haven't…"

"No." Harry squeaked. "No…we're just thirteen Professor Lupin…."

Remus smiled idly. "Call me Remus."

Harry was having the time of his life in Hagrid's COMC class. They got to meet all sorts of 'interesting' animals. Harry had signed up for Ancient Runes with Neville, Draco and Hermoine. Of course, no one knew that they'd planned it together. They'd also signed up for Arithmicancy together. A lot of people felt sorry for those two professors. People finally caught on that the four of them were the smartest in their year, possibly out of all the students below fifth year.

Ron was not happy.

It didn't help that as the semester wore on, Harry incidentally spent more time with Neville because of class projects with Granger and Malfoy, of all people, nor did it help that they were secretly shedding their glamours bit by bit.

By Christmas, the only glamour that they still held up was on their hair and eyes, with the exception of Hermoine, who'd dropped the glamour completely at that time in favor of having a 'makeover' with the girls.

Harry was alone at Hogwarts for the holidays. Hermoine went with her parents to visit relatives, and Neville had to go with his Gran to visit his Great Uncle Algie.

Harry was fine with it though, and hung out with the twins in the common room, sometimes with Ginny and Ron, but they quickly got bored of the 'academic' talk that the twins sprung up whenever they were in the room.

Harry and the others were going to start their animagus training and learning the patronus spell from Remus after the holidays, as they spent the fall term doing as much research they could on being animagi.

Draco wasn't having a fun Christmas. He was sullenly eating dinner, his fork pushing his food around. "I heard you were top in the class this semester, very good Draco." Lucius said with a warm smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Narcissa pursed her lips, her knuckles going white on the armrest of her chair.

"Thank you sir." Draco said softly, without looking up.

"But I heard the most curious rumor…" Draco looked up.

Lucius leant forward his chair, his eyes gleaming. "That Arithmicancy and Runes you signed up for, are your highest classes…tell me Draco, is it because you teamed up with the mudblood filth and that…Potter?"

Draco couldn't keep the guilt from his face. He was in for it now.

"Yes sir. But I had to sir…it was for the project…"

"You've spent quite a bit of time with them alone researching Draco, I've heard…get any good information?"

Draco gulped. "No! I mean, we never talked about anything besides the assignment…you know we hate each other…"

Lucius' lips thinned. "Study. Now."

Draco gulped, following his father, daring not to look back at his mother. The floo flared up, and Narcissa jumped, seeing Greyback tear into the room. "Where's that Lucius! I have to talk to him-"

Narcissa blinked in surprise, seeing how mad the man was…he was snarling and so…angry. With out thinking, from fear, she pointed to the study.

Her eyes widened as she remembered her son…

Draco was panting against the desk, his father had raised the silencing spells as soon as they entered the room and cast Crucio on him already. Twice. His head was throbbing, and his legs felt like jelly…

The door burst open, and his eyes widened. Fenrir Greyback… Lucius went over to the angry man, where they had an animated discussion, never raising their voices, but looking very…mad.

Draco moved slowly from the desk, hoping…hoping his father didn't do something stupid. Suddenly, Fenrir lunged for the man, but Lucius ducked out of the way, moving towards Draco. The door opened again, revealing his mother, brandishing her wand. Draco was so happy to see her, he didn't see the angry werewolf lung at him. He ducked out of the way, just in time, grabbing his shaken mother by the hand and a bit of floo powder. "Three Broomsticks!" He yelled, shoving her in the fire place.

He was about to grab some more floo powder when he saw his father about to push him out of the way so he could use the floo. Greyback had lunged, and Draco felt a pain in his leg as he screamed his destination as he went into the fire place.

He landed on the floor with a thud, the pub was quiet. Madam Rosmerta and his mother were at the fireplace, picking him up from the floor. His mother's eyes widened as she saw the gash on his leg. "I'll take him to Hogwarts…there was an accident at the house…thank you Rosmerta." The kind woman nodded, looking worriedly after them as they left the pub.

"_Severus, Draco's hurt. We're coming to the school now, please get Harry and go to the hospital wing."_

Harry was deep asleep when he'd been shaken awake roughly. He looked up to see Snape. "Hospital wing, Potter." He whispered, careful not to wake Ron in the next bed over.

Harry nodded with wide eyes, putting up his glamours quickly as he pulled on his slippers and dressing robe over his pajamas. As he followed Severus down the corridor, he looked to the man worriedly. "What happened?"

"Draco's been hurt. Narcissa didn't tell me what happened, but they should be in the hospital wing."

Harry's eyes widened, and he walked faster.

"_Draco, are you okay? Severus just told me you were hurt…"_

Draco didn't answer. Harry's heart beat went faster. "He's not answering!" He broke into a sprint, with Severus following closely behind.

They found Narcissa and Pomfrey putting Draco in a bed as they arrived.

"He's not answering, he's not answering…" Harry murmured to himself as he approached the bed.

Poppy looked at Harry, wondering what on earth Harry Potter was doing at Draco Mafoy's beside.

Then Malfoy's glamours dropped. She blinked in surprise. What on earth? She looked to Severus and Narcissa, and Narcissa spoke. "Fenrir Greyback apparently had a disagreement with my husband…"

Harry, Severus, and Poppy gasped.

Narcissa pressed on. "I don't know if…if…he was…"

Poppy flipped the boy over on his stomach, looking to the torn pants the boy wore and the bleeding gash on his leg. "I hope it's just a scratch…" Severus said as Poppy used a spell to vanish his pants. Poppy inspected it carefully after pulling some gloves on.

"I can't tell, it's too…" She vanished the blood and they all inspected the damage. On the back of Draco's thigh, there were teeth marks.

Narcissa felt her eyes burn and let out a loud sob.

Severus was frozen, his eyes wide. Harry had covered his mouth with a trembling hand.

"We…we have to do something…I mean, it's not full moon, so Fenrir wasn't transformed…"

Severus' mind was finally working again, and he quickly went over to the cabinets with Poppy.

Harry looked to Narcissa, who'd buried her face in her hands, her head bowed, her shoulders silently shaking.

They worked long into the night to try to disinfect Draco's wound, even Harry helped, casting his own spells when it seemed like nothing else would work.

Harry finally collapsed beside a red eyed Narcissa, his glamours had been dropped hours ago from exhaustion. They all stared at the sleeping boy in the bed, wondering when he would wake. Poppy looked to Harry.

"Tell me why you and Draco Malfoy have glamours."

"We're part of a Circle." Harry replied tiredly, rubbing his neck.

Poppy's eyes widened as she looked back to Harry then Draco.

"Oh."

Draco stirred shortly before dawn. "Mum?"

"I'm here Dragon…" Narcissa said softly, going to his side.

Severus motioned towards Harry. "Put your glamours back up and tell Lupin to come here. Come back here right afterwards." Harry nodded, and ran off.

Draco couldn't think anymore. Harry was looking at him from the end of his bed, Remus Lupin at his side, Poppy on the other, with Severus holding one hand, and his mother holding the other.

His life was over. He would never get to do all the things he wanted to do at the ministry, or…he felt his eyes burn as tears welled up in his eyes.

His life was over.

**OH Noes! Draco's a werewolf!**

Chapter: 10

**A Full Circle Chapter Ten: Back in Black**

Hermoine and Neville found out what happened through their bond as soon as Draco recovered. They couldnt come right away to the school, as they were both out of the country. Narcissa was staying in Severus' quarters, and Draco had recovered enough to go back to the Slytherin dorms. No one knew what had happened, and it would stay that way. Lucius had run away to France, but not before disowning Draco. Narcissa had filed for divorce; her husband had yet to give it to her. No one knew just yet, but pureblood gossip would catch up sooner or later.

Dumbledore had been quietly informed, as the other Professors. They did not know of Harry's involvement that night under an Oath from Poppy. The holidays had been bittersweet for Harry. He'd gotten a Firebolt from a secret admirer, and quickly gave it to McGonagall to check for curses. Ron, and many of the other Gryffindors, had been understandably pissed at him for it.

Draco was acting…depressed. He spent a lot of time alone, and didn't want to bother people. He had a project he was undertaking, but wouldnt tell the others. Luna had started to hang around him more, and she seemed to calm him whenever he needed it. His first full moon was the hardest, transforming with Remus in his office, shortly before all the students returned. The others couldnt be there for him, but promised they would join him as soon as they completed thier animagus forms. Draco slowly snapped out of his quiet funk around March, and became the same old Draco, well with a bit of animalistic tendencies around the week of the full moon. Lots of meat, and he tended to growl a bit more, which he was teased about by Harry and Hermoine.

Neville and Harry were looking over a book together in their corner of the library, and Draco and Hermoine walked up behind them, with Luna on their trail. "Hey, lovebirds, cut it out." Draco growled as he flopped down. Harry and Neville laughed, pulling apart.

"So, what's up?" Harry asked.

"I want to join your Circle." Luna said as she sat down. The others exchanged looks. "Are you sure Luna?" She nodded, smiling at Draco. "You can help me get caught up with the rest of you."

"Well…we can all help…" Hermoine started, but Luna shook her head. "The three of you will be quite busy already with your animagus training…and I think the twins are coming over here." The twins were coming up behind Luna, and their faces fell as she said that.

"Aww, we can never surprise you."

They sat down by Hermoine. "We want in."

Now…they had no idea how Fred and George knew. At all.

"How did you know?" Harry asked.

They gave him wide grins. "We saw you meeting up in the forest quite a bit, and a few rumors we heard in Knockturne Alley…"

"Knockturne Alley?" Luna asked, raising her brow. Harry flushed as the twins looked to him. "Sean O' Mally. It was either you or Draco, but I bet it was you Harry…you've got quite the reputation already."

Harry shrugged, a small smile spreading on his face. "So…how did you see us?"

Fred took out a blank bit of parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." They all stared as a map appeared on the bit of parchment. "Woah…this is amazing…"

"Prongs, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Moony's mauraders map…we owe them so much." Fred wiped away a fake tear.

George grinned wickedly at Harry and Neville. "We can see everything!" He pointed to Snape prowling in his office, and Dumbledore pacing in his own office. Harry and Neville glanced towards each other uneasily. Fred chuckled.

"We wont tell anyone that you share a bed, Marauder's Honor."

Hermoine and Draco looked to them in surprise. Luna didn't look too fazed though. "Neville…I didn't know you guys were…"

"We've only kissed. Nothing more." Harry squeaked, flushing.

"Good. We're much too young to…" Hermoine started, only stopping at Draco's uncomfortable look.

Harry gave a smile to the twins. "Come to the clearing on Friday. Oh…and bring that map with you."

Understandably, the twins were in awe of the Great Moony, and it amused the others to no end. They would have added Severus and Narcissa long ago, but they couldn't, as their own Circle was still active. Even if it was just the two of them. Remus couldn't be added because of his lycanthrope.

"Mum!" Draco cried, hugging his mother tightly as they emerged in the clearing. The twins came soon after Harry and Neville, and Hermoine and Luna arrived last.

They set up the circle and prepared. The twins were in awe of the others as they dropped their glamours. "So…we're going to look wicked cool like you guys as well?"

Hermoine nodded with a grin. "Yes!" George crowed.

"You'll also be able to do some of the stuff we've been doing, well...you'll see." Harry added, looking at the twin's astonished looks.

They began to prepare everything and all the kids sat down, Severus and Narcissa started the spell work, while Remus watched nearby.

Near dawn, they all woke. Harry was curled up in Neville's arms, their legs intwined comfortably, dirt and twigs all in their hair and clothes. Luna was being nuzzled by a half awake Draco, looking quite pretty together. Her blonde hair was just as white as Draco's now, but was long enough to just reach past her thighs. Luna smiled faintly, pulling Draco closer. Hermoine was curled up into herself, her hand close to the chalice from the night before. The others who'd been in the Circle before were unchanged.

The twins were curled up together, their red hair now a dark auburn, long enough to brush their shoulders. They looked broader, and a bit more muscular. Nearby, Narcissa and Severus were curled up together, Severus' arms protectively around Narcissa. Remus was a little ways off, sleeping peacefully.

Remus was the first to wake, then the others. Harry stared at Remus with sad eyes. "Why didn't you tell me about Sirius Black."

Remus looked away. "Dumbledore told me not to. He said you were much too young to…"

"I think he's innocent." Luna said, brushing twigs out of her long hair and robes.

They all stared at her. "Really?"

"Yes. After all, I heard all they found of Pettigrew was his finger…"

"Hey, that rat looked very familiar…"

Fred said, looking to George.

"A bit too much like our Scabbers."

Harry gasped. "I've been sleeping in the same room with Pettigrew?" He stood up angrily, and Neville tried to placate him.

Hermoine arched an eyebrow at the twins. "You share a bed too." They both flushed.

"Habit." They said at the same exact time.

Remus laughed softly. "Right."

Draco frowned at Remus. "Sirius was your mate, wasn't he?"

Remus looked away running a hand through his hair.

Unknown to the Circle, there was a large black dog in the woods as well, and had found them. He was watching from the shadows, his sad blue eyes looking at his Mate. His eyes turned to his Cub, and they softened. He turned around and walked off.

The twins, Harry, and Neville had affectively captured Pettigrew finally one night and took it to Dumbledore. The Headmaster had been quite surprised as they presented the rat to him, and had proved that Pettigrew was Harry's parents' Secret Keeper. Shacklebolt and a few other Aurors took the animagus into custody, and sent him to Azkaban.

It was all over the papers, that Sirius Black was a free man now, and they were still searching for him though.

Harry and Hermoine decided to work with the twins. The red heads had some amazing ideas, and it benifitted everyone. Since it was just the original Circle that could communicate telepathically, they worked with Remus in making communication mirrors, simular to the ones Remus had as a student with the Mauraders.

Harry was in the forest alone in the clearing, preparing the area for that night for the full moon. Remus and Draco transformed here now, and he was stocking them up on raw meat and blankets.

He heard a rustle in the trees and Harry looked around carefully, bringing up his glamours. Just in case.

A dog slowly walked out. Harry stared at it in surprise. "Padfoot?"

The dog whined, looking at him carefully. Harry approached it slowly, and kneeled in front of the dog. "Sirius…" Harry said softly.

The dog transformed into a gaunt looking man. Harry hugged him hard. "Sirius…"

"Harry…I missed you so much…" He began to cry softly. "I've been watching you with your Circle from the forest…I'm so proud of you…"

Harry smiled. He looked around as he saw Narcissa and Remus walk into the clearing, and both adults stared at him in surprise. Remus gasped, running to the man and hugging him tightly. Harry looked away, to Narcissa. She looked slightly uncomfortable, and held back, waiting for the two men to get…reacquainted.

Harry cleared his throat, and they pulled apart. Sirius looked to him. "Could…you drop the glamours. I've only seen glimpses…"

Harry dropped his glamours, and Sirius stared. "You look so much like your mother." He finally said. "We'd been convinced when you were a baby you were going to look like your father…"

"I did. Until we started the Circle. Almost a carbon copy of him actually, except for my eyes." Sirius looked into his eyes and smiled faintly. "Yeah."

Sirius looked to Narcissa. "Narcissa…I've seen you around…I was wondering why you were helping these kids along with Sniv-Snape."

Harry frowned, as did Remus. Narcissa crossed her arms. "I've been helping them along with Severus since the end of their first year."

Sirius gaped. "The end of their first year? You've been in the Circle that long?"

Harry grinned. "Yep."

Sirius shook his head with a grin. "Amazing, pup." He turned back to Narcissa.

"My son was bitten by Greyback over the holidays. We've left Lucius. I was actually wanting to move into Grimmauld Place…"

"You can have it." Sirius said, grimacing.

Narcissa let out a light tinkling laugh. "I was actually thinking of having you and Remus join us there. Remus has been helping my son Draco through the full moons, and you are the Head of Black still…"

Sirius looked thoughtful. "It's going to need some major cleanup. Kreacher has gone a little….loopy." She nodded, looking thoughtful.

"And if…we're under Fidelis, perhaps we can ask Harry to join us."

Harry's face lit up. "Oh please! Pretty please?" Remus gave the boy a small smile, and Sirius looked confused.

"But…it's a mangy old house…and you barely know me…"

"Any place is better than the Durselys, and I can still continue my training during the summer, and I do know you, I just have Remus' memories to go by."

Sirius looked to Remus, who nodded. Sirius turned back to Harry with an infectious grin. "Alright Pup. We'll have to talk to Dumbledore though."

Narcissa looked at his thin frame. "But before you go off, I think we should get you cleaned up a bit and fatten you up." Sirius gave her a small grin, and Remus wrapped an arm around his waist.

Harry looked shyly to Narcissa. "Do you think Hermoine, Luna and Neville could stay with us too? I know the twins couldn't, because of their family…"

Narcissa looked thoughtful. "You'll have to ask them, Harry."

A week later, they had decided to include Sirius into their Circle. It was hard, doing it, as they had just completed one not to long before, but he managed. There was a difference, including an adult in their Circle, especcially a Black, and a mate of a werewolf at that. Everyone got a substantial powerboost. Sirius tended to like working with Flames like Draco, so he and Luna learnt together from Draco. It was good for the blonde, teaching them, as he had something to think about other than his lycanthrope.

Sirius made quite a comeback to the Wizarding World. He was first seen at the Ministry of Magic. He registered himself as an animagus (and paid the fines for being an illegal animagus), and asked for reimbursement from the Ministry for putting him in Azkaban. The Ministry suceeded to his will, as he was a Black after all, and gave him what he wanted, including Harry's adoption, something Dumbledore couldnt even back out of. When he whirled into the Great Hall, opening the door with a loud bang, everyone looked to him in shock.

Remus' voice caught in his throat.

The man cleaned up well, especially after he joined the Circle. He was as handsome as he ever was, not a trace of Azkaban on him anywhere. Quite a large number of girls sighed as he passed, his dark red robes with the Black crest whirling around him dramatically, not unlike Snape.

Sirius went straight to the Gryffindor table, and hugged Harry in a bear hug, picking him up fully. Harry looked to the man in surprise, and he knew everyone was listening in.

"Hi Harry. I'm Sirius Black…and your Godfather."

The Great Hall exploded, and Sirius took Harry by the hand, to go spend some quality time with his Godson. They both left with grins on their faces. "I love getting people riled up." Sirius said, his blue eyes bright.

**yay for Sirius!**

Chapter: 11

**A Full Circle Chapter Eleven: Summer Beginnings**

Harry flopped onto his bed with a smile. He was in Grimmauld Place for the summer, and it was going to be the best summer ever! After much guilt tripping from Dumbledore, Sirius finally convinced the man to let Harry stay at Grimmauld Place, under the condition that he would be under Fidelis. Sirius was his own secret keeper, he wasn't going to take any chances.

The night he'd returned to the Black house, Sirius had sat him down in the library, with Narcissa and Draco at his side.

"Harry, I legally adopted you at the Ministry, so no one could ever take you away from me. If you'd like we can perform a blood adoption. It would change your name to Potter-Black. I need Draco and Narcissa here to be witnesses, as they are also Blacks. With the blood adoption, you'll be heir to the Blacks, sharing the title with Draco when you both get older, if something ever happens to me.

Harry nodded, unable to speak. He'd wanted a family so much when he was younger, and it seemed he would finally get it.

The house looked awful, but that would change soon. Hermoine and her parents would be joining them just in time for Harry and Neville's birthday at the end of July. They were in France now, and Hermoine was always going on about what she saw there through their bond. Draco had been there many times when he was younger, so it gave them something to talk about.

With the help from Sirius, Narcissa's divorce went through, and she and Draco became part of the Black family again. Neville and his Gran would be joining them shortly before Hermoine came back, the same with Luna. Luna was in Acapulco right now, chasing a Yeti with her father.

Kreacher had been taken over by Narcissa, the only one he would follow orders from. He was terrified of Draco and Remus, never staying in the same room with them for long.

They cleaned the house quickly and effiently, Narcissa was pretty handy with decorating spells. They confined all of the dark artifacts and books up in the upstairs library, as Narcissa had been scandalized the Sirius had wanted to get rid of the books. Apparently their library had one of the largest collections of rare Dark Arts books in the UK. She wasn't about to get rid of it anytime soon.

Remus and Draco had cleaned out the basement for their transformations. They'd also discovered a potions lab hidden behind a mirror in one of the hallways. Severus was going to teach Hermoine and Draco how to make the Wolfsbane potion once Hermoine returned, using their abilities to help them make the advanced potion. The place was looking quite presentable by the time the others arrived. Narcissa and Sirius compromised on the decorating, deciding on light colored wood floors and dark blue walls. And they replaced the furniture with more modern looking bits.

Moody liked to drop by often, as he was an old friend of Sirius', as did Tonks, Narcissa's niece. They were both aurors, and they gave Harry quite a bit of handy dueling tips.

Harry woke to a warm weight dipping in his bed in the middle of the night. He smiled sleepily up at Neville. "Hi Harry."

"Hmm…Neville, I thought you were coming tomorrow."

"Nope. Gran let me come early." Neville was pulling off his jacket, and Harry stared up at the boy.

He'd dropped his glamours completely now, and he looked so…wonderful.

"Neville…" Harry moaned softly, pulling him close. "I missed you."

Neville kissed him gently, pulling away. "I missed you too sweetheart."

He motioned to the bed that had been conjured for him. "Sirius made a bed up for me."

Harry shook his head sleepily. "Get in."

Neville pulled off his clothes quickly, and Harry flushed. Neville chuckled. "Like what you see?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Get dressed, I don't want Sirius coming in to see us in bed together with you no clothes on…who knows what he'd do."

Neville pulled on his sleep pants, but forwent the shirt. Harry blushed as Neville pulled him close, putting Harry's head on his shoulder. He could feel the soft, warm skin underneath him, and he felt…he turned his head, kissing Neville's shoulder.

The boy went still under him. "Harry…"

Harry smiled, sliding a hand up and down his bare chest. "Must you tempt me so?" He whispered, his lips brushing Neville's ear.

Neville turned to face him, propping himself up slightly. Harry smiled at the boy above him, pulling him into a kiss. Harry opened his lips slightly, allowing Neville to slip his tongue in, the boy pressing up against him, slipping his leg between Harry's.

Harry groaned, pulling away. He could feel how hard Neville was, and so was he…he wanted more…

Neville slipped a hand under Harry's shirt, lifting it up slowly, his eyes questioning. Harry nodded, allowing the other boy to take his shirt off.

Harry closed his eyes as he felt hands trace up and down his skin. He felt a mouth kiss and nip his collarbone and neck. "Hmm…Harry…"

They both fell asleep with smiles on their faces, curled up together.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY…Ack!"

Sirius yelled, banging the door open. His jaw dropped as he saw Neville and Harry sit up in the bed quickly. He had a noisemaker in his hand, which went still as he stared at them. Now, think about this. Your fourteen year old godson in bed with his roommate, and as far as you can tell, they aren't wearing any clothes.

"What the hell is-"

Remus came up, hiding a grin, putting a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Sirius…don't get too crazy…."

Harry pulled back the covers, rolling his eyes, showing that both boys had pants on. "Siri, we haven't done anything…"

Sirius still scowled at Neville, who was looking quite nervous. "We've only kissed-"

Sirius frowned. "I'll put one of you with Draco-"

Remus squeezed Sirius shoulder again. "Paddy, they share a dorm already, I don't think it really matters…anyways, you know they're telling the truth…"

"But when we were fourteen…"

Harry flushed, as did Neville.

Remus cleared his throat, affectively cutting off Sirius. "It's different Sirius. You were my Mate…you know things were different." Sirius just threw his hands up, turning to the boys. "Fine. But no…you know what. At least until you're sixteen."

Harry laughed. "How would you stop us during the school year?"

Sirius grinned, raising his wand. "Don't you dare!" Remus cried out, snatching the wand away from the man. Sirius pouted. Remus shook his head. "Get dressed and come down to breakfast boys. The others should be here soon."

They left the room, and Neville sighed in relief. "I thought he was going to kill me."

"Nah, just probably spell us impotent until we're sixteen."

Neville squeaked.

Their birthdays were a blast, and Harry had even invited the Weasleys along. Ron scowled at Draco the entire time they were there, and Ginny didn't like that Hermoine and Luna were there either.

Harry hadnt noticed though, until Ron pulled him aside later that afternoon.

"So…how is it, living with Malfoy?"

"He's a Black now." Harry said, almost bored.

Ron looked at him, confused. "What are you on about?"

Harry shook his head. "Narcissa divorced Lucius Malfoy, and he's a cousin of Siri's, so they're Blacks now. They're helping Sirius get this place cleaned up."

Ron looked around, frowning slightly. "Harry…I heard Neville's staying here for the rest of the summer…why didn't you invite me?"

Harry shrugged. "Sorry Ron. If I invited you, I would have had to invite Ginny and the twins along too, and we just don't have enough room…"

"But Granger is staying, and Lovegood…"

"Luna's father is going on a trip, and she's a close friend of Draco's, and Hermoine's parents have a conference to go to, so we offered her a place to stay here." Harry said easily.

Ron frowned. "But…I can share with you and Neville, like at school…"

Harry sighed, looking away. He knew Ron would cause tons of problems if he stayed, along with Ginny. The girl still had a huge crush on him, and he'd never be alone with Neville and the others with them following him around.

Ron crossed his arms now, looking upset. "Fine. I see how it is." Harry looked to the red head in surprise. He'd never heard that tone before…

"You just want to hang out with all your rich friends, I see…like the Longbottoms, Blacks, and Lovegoods…"

He blue eyes turned cold. "It's Malfoy, Harry! And you're letting him stay-"

Harry sighed. "He's family. Sirius is my Godfather, so he's like…a cousin of sorts."

"I still don't like it."

Harry shrugged, looking down at his feet.

"And what's with the hair! I didn't say anything last year when you were growing it out, but now it just looks silly…even Bill doesn't have his hair that long."

Harry eyed his hair, which he'd finally dropped the glamours from. Even pulled back like it was, it still hung halfway down his back.

"So? I like it long…"

"It makes you look like a girl." Ron muttered.

Harry frowned, looking away. "If you're going to insult me, you can just leave!"

All the people in the next room over went quiet. Usually Harry never raised his voice.

"Maybe I will! You can take all your rich buddies and shove it!" Ron yelled, stomping out of the room.

Harry crossed his arms, looking out the window as he tried to calm himself. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned, looking at Hermoine. He smiled faintly at her, seeing the worry in her eyes.

"Step 2?"

He nodded slowly. "This is going to be hard without his support…he's pretty popular actually, even if he is an arse." Hermoine giggled, wrapping an arm around his waist, putting her head on his shoulder, her warm brown eyes sad.

"I'm sorry Harry."

"It's okay. Maybe we can sic the twins on him." Hermoine laughed softly.

"This is earlier than we planned Harry. We werent planning on this until at least sixth year..." She said finally.

"I know…but we need to act now…Sirius told me we're going to have a triwizard tournament at the school. With all the stuff going on there, we'll be easily missed, we can do what we need to while the other schools are there."

She nodded slowly, sighing. "Come on. The others are waiting for you. The Weasleys haven't left, but I can guarantee you Ron wont say a word."

"Why?"

"His mum can be quite vicious when she needs to." She giggled.

Harry rolled his eyes, going to the next room.

Chapter: 12

**A Full Circle Chapter Twelve: Recruiting**

Harry and Neville got a compartment in the train together and were packing their things up when Hermoine breezed into the room, with Luna trailing behind her and another girl who looked somewhat weirded out.

"Harry, look who I found. Do you remember Susan?" Harry smiled. "Hi…yeah, we worked together in COMC last year, right?"

She nodded, watching Hermoine and Luna sit down across from Harry and Neville.

"Sit down Susan." Hermoine said brightly, crossing her legs. Hermoine was in right form today, exuding the popularity queen. Cho Chang was still her main contender in the Ravenclaw tower for popularity, but Hermoine had gotten the more down to earth girls than Cho, who had mostly the Quidditch team and some of the more ditzy girls.

Susan sat down, wondering why some of the smartest, most attractive people in school wanted to bother with her. She glanced to Luna, wondering why on earth she was there.

Harry gave her a warm smile, and she seemed to calm down a bit unconsciously. "So, Susan, how was your summer?"

"Um…fine." Susan said with a slight frown. Hermoine smiled easily at her. "So, we were thinking about forming a study group together, you know, get the smartest kids in school…"

"But I'm not…" Susan started.

Hermoine giggled. "You are pretty talented in History of Magic, and definitely in astronomy, from what I've heard…"

Susan shrugged. "Yeah…I actually don't fall asleep in History." The others chuckled.

"We've already gotten a few others, and we think you'd be a good addition to our study group. Doesn't it make sense that the smartest kids in school band together? And can do this as a house unity thing…"

Susan nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. "That would be nice. I hate the house rivalries we have around…" She glanced to Harry.

He grinned. "Draco and I aren't fighting each other anymore. I'm sure you've heard that his mother divorced his father…" She nodded slowly, it was the talk amongst most purebloods nowadays…

"Well, she's cousins with my Godfather Sirius, and they stayed with us this summer, so we're trying to work with Draco to spread the goodwill…"

The compartment door opened, revealing Draco and the twins. "Sorry we're late, got held up with the Weasel…" Draco said, breezing in, sitting next to Luna. The twins sat on the floor. Draco blinked to Susan in surprise.

"Bones. Hello. Nice to meet you." She blinked back in surprise, then looked to the twins. She gave Hermoine a dubious look.

Hermoine giggled. "They're much smarter than people think they are…"

Fred cut her off. "We just apply our skills in better areas."

Susan smiled slightly. "This is a pretty rounded group we have here."

Hermoine shrugged. "It could be bigger. I think we need a bit more variety."

Draco smirked, leaning back in his seat, nonchalantly extending his arm on the seat behind Luna. "I've been owling a few people in my house over the summer, I think they might join us. For the grades, of course."

"Of course." Hermoine giggled.

Susan looked at all of them carefully, frowning just slightly. "There's something different about all of you." She cocked her head, seeing everyone's expressions turn carefully blank.

"What do you mean, Susan?" Hermoine said, straightening out her skirt.

Susan could feel something…different about these students, and she followed her gut instincts.

"You're in a Circle, aren't you?"

They didn't react.

"All of you?" She murmured.

They all nodded.

"Since first year." Draco finally said.

She gaped. "What? But what about…"

"Just a front. We wanted you to join our…regular study group just to see if you might have the abilities… and the open mind to handle it, that's the only way you can learn." Hermoine said, dropping the giggly act.

Susan shivered slightly, looking at her. "All of you…aren't who everyone thinks you are."

Everyone nodded.

She looked out the window, looking thoughtful. "I suppose I wont be able to speak about this to anyone else."

"No."

She nodded slowly. "So…if I ask around my friends who are interested…"

"They can join our 'regular' study group, but we'll have the final decision if they can join the Circle."

"Who else is in it? Is this all of you?"

"Sirius Black." Harry said softly. Susan's jaw dropped slightly.

"Does Dumbledore know?"

"No. And we prefer to keep it that way, at least for a little while. Dumbledore likes to talk too much." Draco said, looking at his nails.

Susan nodded slowly. "I…I'll think about it. I'll take you up on your offer on the study group…but…what do you guys do in the Circle? I know different ones have different types of focuses..."

The others exchanged a look. Harry flicked his wrist, showing a deep red flame coming up from the palm of his hand.

She gasped. "That's...that's dark magic!"

They all shook their heads. "No Susan...it's not. What we do is give life. Help it along. We only use our abilities to defend ourselves, we would never use it to harm people purposefully."

"I...dont know. I...I'll think about it. I...wont tell anyone. But...I'm not sure if I could..."

"That's all right Susan." Hermoine said easily with a warm smile. "We wont make you do anything you don't want to. We never would."

Susan nodded, knowing the girl meant more than just the study group. "Of course…I should go now." She stood and lowered her eyes. "I'll see all of you later."

After she left, everyone breathed a little easier. "How did she pick up on it?" Neville asked, furrowing his brow.

"Her aunt." Luna said, flipping her magazine over.

They all looked to her.

"Her Aunt is Madam Bones, head of the auror department. No doubt, she taught her niece how to pick up on things. Susan felt our power, that we were slightly dangerous. She wont talk though. If she's good in History as others say she is, she knows better." Luna reasoned, her silvery eyes still focused on her magazine.

The others relaxed a bit. "So…I should go the Slytherin Compartments." Draco said, stretching. His werewolf genes had changed him slightly. He was no longer lithe and thin like he once was, but had bulked up considerably during the summer, broader than Neville now. He was even a bit taller than the other boy. He didn't wear his glamours anymore, except for his pupils, which had turned so light it was nearly white from his lycanthrope. He was a white werewolf, extremely rare.

Luna stood, and took him by the arm. "I'll join you. Maybe I can help you convince the others you're serious about House Unity." She'd never bothered to wear glamours, as she was Loony Lovegood, and people were used to her looking…different. She looked quite striking next to Draco, their hair almost the same shade.

Draco glanced at her hand grabbing his arm, and he blushed slightly. "Um…yeah." Her hand slid down to wrap her fingers around his as they walked out the door.

Hermoine raised a hand to cover her mouth. "When did that happen?"

Harry shrugged. "No clue."

Neville spoke up. "I think he's liked her for a while now. She always seems to calm him down."

Draco looked down at Luna as they walked in the train corridor. Luna gave him a dreamy smile, their hands still attached. People were whispering as they passed about Veela. Luna squeezed his hand as they entered the Slytherin section.

Daphne was running her hand idly through Blaise's hair, his head in her lap as he read a book. Draco walked in, raising an eyebrow as he saw them. Millicent looked up from her book, sitting next to Theo. They all looked at him, then to the blonde girl attached to his hand.

"So…you're really serious about that house unity thing, aren't you?" Theo finally said. He'd hardly believed it when Malfoy had owled him and his friends over the summer with the idea. They'd never gotten along before, as they preferred to be neutral in underhanded Slytherin tactics.

Draco sat down, pulling Luna beside him. "Yes. I am."

"Why us?" Daphne said carefully, Blaise sitting up from her lap and closing his book.

"Because I know you would never go to Voldemort."

They all flinched. "Malfoy!" Millicent gasped.

He ignored their reactions. "I'm serious."

"You cant say things like that around here." Theo said softly, raising silencing spells.

Draco made a face. "I don't care any more. I'm sure you've heard of my Mother's divorce."

"Of course."

"I lived with Black this summer, at the Family place. Potter was there. We talked a bit, he convinced me."

"Potter?" Daphne cringed.

Draco shrugged.

"But he's in the league with Dumbledore, surely…" Blaise said, furrowing his brow.

"No. He isnt." Luna said, speaking up finally.

They all looked to her in surprise, except for Draco.

"But…he's a Gryffindor, of course he is…"

Luna shook her head. "Nope. He's got some different ideas than Dumbledore does…and he doesn't like to take advantage of people. He's been done that way enough to know how it feels."

They were all quiet, looking thoughtful.

"But…Potter?"

"You're not just siding with him, but with a group of us. It's just a study group…"

"I know it's more than that, I can feel it." Millicent snapped, narrowing her eyes.

Draco and Luna exchanged a look.

"Just…a study group. For now. Are you interested?" Draco finally said, looking at the four of them.

They looked thoughtful. "Fine. But if Potter or any of his little buddies…Weasley, is he in the group?" Theo said, eyes narrowing.

"No. He would never be in the group. Potter said so, right from the beginning."

"Why? Do…we need to watch out for him?" Daphne said warily.

"Not the way you're thinking. He's just an idiot." Draco said.

"And that Weasley chit?"

"Not her either."

"Good." Theo said, looking thoughtful.

"Why now?" Daphne said.

"Why not now?" Luna quipped back with a smile.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Come on, we have to go to the Ravenclaw section…"

"You know they won't talk to me Draco…" Luna said softly, as they walked out of the compartment.

Chapter: 13

**A Full Circle Chapter Thirteen: Goodwill Alliance**

The hall went quiet as the last group of students entered the Great Hall. Looking quite friendly, Malfoy and Potter were grinning at each other, Malfoy holding the hand of Loony Lovegood, and Granger walking up behind them. Longbottom and Potter went to the Gryffindor table, Granger and Lovegood sat beside each other at the Ravenclaw table, and Malfoy went to sit at Slytherin.

Things were strange. It was well known about the rivalry between Malfoy and Potter, but now it looked like they were best friends. Lovegood and Granger NEVER sat together, as Lovegood always sat with the younger years, and Granger was with the popular group at the table. Potter and Longbottom sat side by side at their table with the younger students, with Weasley sitting farther down away from them, glaring at them.

Dumbledore was too busy to notice this, as he was talking to McGonnagall. Hagrid and Flitwick, however, stared at the group for the longest time, before looking away.

It was time for the students to arrive from Beubaxtons and Durmstrang. Harry and the others spread themselves out accordingly, ready to greet the foreign students.

Madam Maxine's eyes strayed for a moment to Draco and Luna as she passed by them, her students walking behind her. Several girls looked their way as well, the girls at the front of the line, two blondes, one much younger than the other, eyed them carefully.

Durmstrang had been a surprise, many of them looking right to the members of the Circle as soon as they entered the Hall. And when everyone had sat down together, each of them spread out, sitting near the members. Victor Krum had settled into a seat right across from Harry and Neville, in between the Creevey brothers, who were looking a little star struck at him.

"Hello, I am Victor Krum." Victor extended his hand across the table to the boys. Neville shook it first. "Nice to meet you. I'm Neville Longbottom."

Victor nodded curtly, looking to Harry.

"Harry Potter." Harry said shortly as the boy shook his hand. The boy's eyes flicked to his scar, just slightly, then looked back into his eyes. "Nice to meet you both."

As the feast began, Victor told them about Bulgaria, and was quite nice to them, but cool to the others at their table. As everyone was dismissed from the feast, Victor smiled slightly. "Perhaps you can show me around the Castle, it is quite larger than I school, I do not want to get lost…"

"Of course. Anytime Victor." Harry said brightly, seeing Ron glaring at them angrily out of the corner of his eye.

That night, the study group met as usual in the library. The Slytherins had surprisingly settled in easily with them, and Hannah Abbot and Justin Finch Fletchly had joined in after some convincing from Susan. They had to change their table from the back corner to another, one that was hidden behind the Magical History section on the second floor of the library.

"So, what did you think about Beubaxtons and Durmstrang?" Harry said, dumping his books.

"Odd." Susan said, sitting in her seat.

"Did you notice how they reacted to us though?" Hermoine said softly.

Draco nodded. "A whole group of them went straight to me."

Justin and Hannah looked to each other. "Why would they do that?"

The table was silent. Justin and Hannah couldn't sense the Circle like the others had, so they were reluctant to say anything.

"They could sense something." Harry said finally, propping his head up, leaning on his elbow.

"Sense what?" Justin said, biting his lip. He knew…something was going on that he and Hannah didn't know about, apparently they hadn't picked up on it yet.

"We're easily the strongest students in the school." Draco said, leaning forward.

"Oh. But…how could they tell?"

"Don't know. I think we'll have to ask them….Harry, Neville, you seemed pretty chummy with Victor Krum, did he say anything to you?"

"He asked us to give him a tour of the school." Harry said, looking thoughtful.

Hermoine looked shy for a moment. "Could I join you in this tour?"

Harry grinned. "Hermoine….do you have a little crush on Victor Krum?"

She blushed. "He's…he's very handsome…"

Harry, Draco, and Neville started to laugh, the others joining in. They stopped abruptly, when they heard a sound, and they turned to their books.

"It is very beautiful…is there truly a Giant Squid in the lake?" Victor said, his rich accent sibilant in his voice. Hermoine sighed, hiding her blush as she stood next to the boy.

"Yes, there is, but he's harmless." Harry said.

Victor looked to the three of them carefully. "I'm sure you've noticed by now how the students of my school have been acting around your…friends."

They all nodded. Victor smiled slightly. "We have our own…Circle of friends. Perhaps we should arrange a meeting."

Harry and Hermoine exchanged a look in surprise. Neville kept his eyes on Victor's. "Where?"

"Where you meet."

"We will meet up with you in the shaded area behind the castle…Friday night."

"Fine. And I think the Beaubaxtons girls are interested in you as well." Victor said slowly.

"Do they…"

"No. But they do want to meet with you, I'm sure of it."

Harry stared into the fireplace, frowning. His name had been called for being a contestant in the triwizard tournament. This was going to cause problems. He glanced towards Delacour and Krum. They'd arranged to meet tonight, last week, but with this new development…they both gave him significant looks, and he knew their meeting wasn't in danger…yet.

Dumbledore was very twinkly lately. It bothered him. Madam Maxine and Karkaroff were looking at him suspiciously. They eventually left, and Harry went to the tower, ignoring the rest of his house mates as he went up to the dorm room to prepare for the meeting.

He didn't know what to expect. He dressed in his black dress robes, looking up as Neville came into the room. "I know you didn't put your name in, Harry."

"I know. Thank you Neville." Harry said softly, buttoning up his robes.

"Let me fix your hair." Neville said, walking over. He brushed and braided Harry's hair tightly back in a plait. He then dressed in his own robes, then snuck out of the tower.

Once outside, they raised their hoods. They walked into Draco and Luna, then Hermoine and the twins. All of their hoods were raised, and their black robes cloaked them in the dark. They approached the area, seeing Fluer Delacour, her little sister, and four other girls, all dressed in dark navy robes, heavier than the silk robes they wore normally. On the other side, Victor Krum, and the ENTIRE contingent of Durmstrang students that had been brought to Hogwarts, all dressed in black robes, their hoods up as well.

They were dreadfully outnumbered. Harry motioned for them to follow, pressing a single finger to his lips.

They made their way into the forest. It was awfully quiet tonight.

Upon reaching the clearing, each group of students were silent, studying each other carefully.

Harry lowered his hood first, then the rest of the Hogwarts group. The other students lowered their hoods slowly.

"This is your Circle?" Fluer said in her pretty accent, looking over the Group.

Harry nodded. It now comprised of himself, Neville, Hermoine, Draco, with the minor Circle being Luna, the twins, Millicent, Theo, Daphne, and Susan.

She looked thoughtful, looking to the other girls. "We are not a Circle, but we wish to be. We have not completed our spellwork just yet. How long have you been a Circle?"

Harry eyed them carefully. "Since our first year. Except for Luna and the twins, who joined us last year, and Millicent, Theo, Daphne, and Susan this year."

They stared at the group. "You must be powerful." One of the Durmstrang students said finally.

Harry looked to Victor. "Who is in your Circle?"

Victor grinned. "All of us."

Harry's eyes widened. "There must be twenty of you…that's amazing."

Victor nodded. "We formed it last year. Things work a little differently at Durmstrang. Tell me, which ritual did you use?"

Harry looked reluctant to say, but finally answered. "The Blood Circle." All of the students were quiet.

"That is quite amazing. We do not have the bond that you share, as it would be quite…dangerous for some of us to transfer blood. What about your…Friend there?" He motioned to Draco.

"He was infected after he was in the Circle."

"Ah, understandable." Victor said with an easy smile.

"You have some…Friends as well."

"Yes." He glanced back to three boys near the back of the group. The three of them were obviously werewolves.

Fluer spoke up, looking at Draco and Luna. "I thought something was different about you, Mr. Malfoy…that you could have been a quarter veela…you are…a werewolf?" She looked slightly surprised.

Draco smiled. "Yes. Quite a few people have been whispering lately about me having Veela in my blood, rest assured, this is just an affect of our bond and my lycanthope." He motioned to his svelte build.

"To…physically change your body from the bond, it must be strong indeed." Victor said.

"So…we've met each other, now what?" Neville said, crossing his arms.

"I'd like to establish an Alliance. I heard rumors of a Circle being in England before we came over, but I had no idea it was here at the school. I know you can sense…the war is upon us nearly, and we do not want to be involved in war again."

"This Alliance is not to be with Dumbledore." Neville said, watching everyone's reactions carefully.

"It will be with our group." Harry said.

Victor nodded. "Fine." He took an athame out. Fluer stepped forward, raising her head up slightly. Harry looked on in confusion.

"Who is your Leader?" Victor said, looking at him.

Harry frowned, then looked to the others. They'd never established a leader in their group before. Neville squeezed his shoulder, giving him a warm smile and nudging him forward. Susan gave him a bright smile, nodding, as did the others.

"I guess I am." Harry said reluctantly. Some of the others laughed softly.

He, Fleur, and Victor went to center of the clearing, the rest of the students forming a circle around them. The three 'leaders' kneeled on the ground, their hands out.

Victor raised the athame above Fluer's palm. "Fluer Delacour, leader of Beaubaxton's Circle, do you bind yourself to us in Friendship, Good will, and Ally yourself to us in times of trouble?"

"I do." She said softly, blue eyes tearing up in pain as Victor cut her palm in a neat triangle. He turned to Harry. "And you, Harry Potter, leader of England's Circle, do you bind yourself to us in Friendship, Good will, and Ally yourself to us in times of trouble?"

"I do." Harry barely winced as Victor cut into his palm. Victor turned his athame to his own palm, slicing the small triangle.

"I swear, to bind myself and my Circle to yours in time of need, in hopes of Friendship, Goodwill, and Peace. So mote it be."

"So mote it be." Harry and fleur said softly, as all three of them pressed their palms together.

There was a soft glow that covered their hands, and they pulled away. The blood was gone, and the small triangles were barely noticeable scars on their palms, nearly hidden between the lines of their palms.

Harry stood up unsteadily, Neville went forward and supported him out of the circle. Fluer's sister helped her up and Victor stood on his own, very carefully.

He looked to Harry. "Good luck on the tournament."

"You too." Harry said with a slight smile.

Chapter: 14

**A Full Circle Chapter Fourteen: War and Love**

Factions seemed to converge on Hogwarts. Slowly, unnoticed by most of the Professors. Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory started dating, so the 'popular' groups of both houses united and squabbled together. Hermoine, Harry, and the others were publically friends, and quite popular among the younger students, and others who needed academic help.

Ron was still ignoring Harry. Harry didn't mind at all, it seemed, and it pissed Ron off. Even the twins were friendly with Harry still, but then again, they were friendly with everyone.

The slytherins of the group, with the exception of Draco, were still not openly friends with the others, as it could be reported to their families.

Then…the trouble began in the form of Rita Skeeter.

Apparently, everyone thought Hermoine and Harry were going out, and that was what brought their little group together. Rita Skeeter just added to the rumors. With the dance coming up, and Harry turning down all the girls who asked him, and other people just assumed he was taking Hermoine.

After Harry battled the dragon, he'd become quite the popular guy, from all houses, girls following him around and giggling, just like Victor. Neville was always around though, glaring at the girls behind their backs. Harry just smiled at Neville's protectiveness.

Harry was looking over a book alone in the library, and suddenly, Victor walked up and sat down, glancing around.

"Are you seeing Hermoine?" Harry gaped.

"No…she's like a sister to me, why?"

Victor looked somewhat relieved. "Everyone is saying you are going together to the ball."

Harry shook his head, looking slightly miserable. "I hate that stupid ball, I wish I didn't have to go…"

Victor frowned. "But it is tradition, surely you dance…"

Harry shrugged. "A little. Susan's been teaching me."

"Why not go with her?"

"She's going with another friend of mine." Harry said with a smile. He leaned forward. "Are you going to ask Hermoine? She really likes you, you know."

Victor beamed. "Really?"

Harry nodded, grinning. "Yeah, you better find her."

Victor stood, then paused. "Why do you not want to go with the girls that asked you?"

Harry's smile faded. "The person I want to go with…I cant. I'll go alone, and dance with a friend for the beginning dance."

Victor nodded. "Well…thank you for the help Harry."

"Anytime." Harry said, looking back down at his book with a sigh.

Harry's eyes fluttered closed as he felt Neville kiss down his chest, his fingers trailing up and down his sides. "Nev..." He groaned as he felt a mouth latch onto one of his nipples, biting gently. Harry's toes curled up as he threw his head back. Neville moved back up, their eyes meeting as the front of his hand ghosted the front of Harry's pajama pants. Harry looked away, flushing.

"Neville...I want to...wait. Just...this feeling I have...I..."

"Just let me know when baby." Neville murmured, kissing him softly. Harry smiled faintly, then his smile faded.

"Neville…I want to go with you to the ball." Harry whispered.

Neville turned to face him, a sad smile on his face. "So do I. Do you want to come out though?"

"I don't know. I'm scared…what if Voldemort…"

"I'm already in danger from his minions…"

"But…I don't want anything to happen to you…" Harry felt his eyes burn.

Neville kissed him gently. "I'll be fine…let me worry about you, okay Harry?"

Harry looked up at him, nodding slowly. Neville kissed him again, closing his eyes. Harry sighed into the kiss, running his hands through Neville's hair. Neville slipped a leg between Harry's and both boys groaned at the contact, rocking back and forth slowly. "I want you so much Harry..." Neville murmured, nipping Harry's neck. Harry whimpered. "After the ball...just a bit longer..." Neville nodded.

"I love you." Harry whispered.

Neville pulled back, eyes shining. "I…I love you too."

They kissed once more.

Narcissa through the floo, going into Severus' quarters. She'd escaped Grimmauld Place. It was near the full moon, and her cousin and his mate always got a bit randy around that time….she did not want to see them again on the kitchen table.

She looked around, frowning. "Severus?"

"In here, Narcissa." Severus said from his study.

Narcissa walked in, taking off her outer robes, frowning as she saw Severus with his head in his arms.

"Severus…what's wrong?"

"The dark mark…" She stared as he extended his arm out to her. She gasped. It was getting darker.

"Severus…why didn't you tell me earlier…"

"I didn't want to make you worry." Severus said softly.

Narcissa hugged the man tightly. "I'll always worry about you Severus."

The man looked up at her, and she was taken aback by the sadness held in his dark eyes.

"You miss her…don't you?"

"Of course I do…I miss both of them…it hasn't felt right since they've left…"

"Shh…." Narcissa said softly, running her hand through Severus' hair. She sighed, frowning. "I think we should get you cleaned up."

"Sorry…I've just…I don't want to go back to…"

"We'll worry about that later. Come on." She pulled him to the bathroom, taking his clothes off. Severus couldn't meet her eyes, he felt just terrible. Narcissa and the girls had taken care of him plenty of times during the last war like this….but it wasn't the same without Lily and Alice… Narcissa rolled her sleeves back, starting the water for the tub. Severus stepped in, sighing as he hit the warm water. She wet his hair and started to scrub shampoo in it gently.

"Severus, you've got to be strong, it's not just us anymore…think of the children."

"I know, I know." Severus murmured, closing his eyes.

"Harry and the others will need our help, you know that they will be some of the most important people in this war…and they need you."

Severus nodded slowly concentrating of the feel of Narcissa's fingers scrubbing his hair.

"Dumbledore has been watching me like a hawk. I'm afraid it's going to get harder and harder to hide the Circle."

"Then we wont. We don't know his suspicions just yet, so don't worry about that…" She dipped her hands into the water, rising the shampoo bubbles from her hand, grabbing the soap. She started to scrub his chest, lips thinning as she saw all of his scars.

"I want you to take care of yourself…Please, please…you cant leave me alone." Narcissa whispered, eyes burning. A hand closed around hers and Severus sat up and looked at her.

"I wont. I promise. You and the girls were the best friends I could have ever had….why did you have to leave me?"

Narcissa looked down, crying now. "You know I couldn't get out of marrying Lucius…"

"But what about the others? They gave up on me when I needed them most…"

Narcissa went forward, hugging Severus tightly, getting the front of her robes all wet, kneeling beside the tub.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…I…Alice got with Frank, and Lily went with James…and I was…I was stuck with Lucius…I was so scared, and you were off risking your life….I just couldn't handle it…I loved you Severus, we all did…."

"As a brother." Severus said softly, not looking at her. Narcissa blinked, looking up at him. "Severus?"

"Lily loved me like a brother, like a twin, she loved me more than her own sister…she chose between us and she chose me…Alice loved me like a little brother, she was so protective of me…"

He met Narcissa's eyes. "And you…you were never allowed to love me more than that. Lucius didn't even like us associating with each other."

Narcissa stared into his dark eyes. "I…I thought you were in love with Lily…that you could never love me as you did her…I…I couldn't…"

Severus moved forward, kissing her softly. Narcissa closed her eyes in defeat, allowing herself this… arms wrapped around her shoulders, holding her tight.

"I loved you all. I…"

"Oh Severus..." Narcissa said breathily. Severus kissed her again, harder this time. Narcissa sank into his arms, reveling in the feel of his arms around her. He stood slowly, stepping out of the tub, and picked her up, bridal style, and took her into the bedroom.

Draco stood outside the entrance to Ravenclaw tower, waiting for Luna. He saw Victor walk forward, looking quite nice in his deep burgundy dress robes. "Victor."

"Draco."

"You waiting for Miss Lovegood?"

Draco nodded, watching Cho Chang walk out of the door with Cedric Diggory, both of them giving him a half hearted glare as they passed. Several more girls followed them, giggling as they saw Victor and Draco.

The door opened again, revealing Luna and Hermoine. Both boys gaped at them. Luna's hair was pulled back in an elegant twist, wearing a strapless pale blue dress with white petticoats. She wore white stockings and heels. She smiled, looping her arm within Draco's. "I see you like it." Draco clamped his jaw shut. She just dreamily looked up at him, kissing him softly. Draco smiled into the kiss.

Meanwhile Victor had a slight pinkness on his cheekbones as he saw Hermoine. She wore a floor length gown in dark red, a few shades darker than Victor's robes, her hair completely down and loose. She was glowing and beautiful. She grinned brightly, kissing him on the cheek. He started, and then held out his arm to her.

Harry and Neville didn't have official dates to the dance. Harry was planning on borrowing Luna from Draco for the initial dance, then hang out with his friends for the rest of the dance, all of them dancing together.

Neville was wearing a muggle style tux, straightening out his tie. He had pulled his hair back tightly at the nape of his neck. He glanced in the reflection of the mirror. He could see Dean and Seamus still getting ready, along with Ron, who was making faces at his frilly dress robes.

He turned, staring as he saw Harry come out of the bathroom. Harry was wearing dark green dress robes, so dark they were nearly black. They fit him perfectly. Harry smiled slightly at him, going to his bed and putting his shoes on. Harry's hair was pulled back loosely, his wild waves escaping from it's fastener that hung between his shoulder blades. Neville couldn't keep his eyes off the boy.

He turned back to the mirror, inspecting his robes. He could see Harry in the reflection, glancing his way.

The dance was fun. Everyone oohed and ahhed as they started the first dance. When the band came out, their big group of friends all danced together, having a great time.

Severus had shown up with Narcissa, which caused quite a bit of whispers, and Draco had assumed they would go together as friends...so when they started to dance together and looked so...well, different than he'd ever seen them before, he was going to have to have a talk with them later.

Harry , Neville, and the others had loads of fun dancing to the band that had been provided for the ball, all dancing togehter. People began to leave eventually, either to go snog, or dropping from exhaustion.

Harry and Neville escaped to the forest, walking through the trees silently with practiced ease. They stopped every so often, kissing. Harry was pushed up against a tree, Neville pressed up against him as they kissed hard, their hands all over each other. It was getting a little hot and heavy by the time they reached the clearing, and they kissed each other roughly, holding each other tightly.

Neville pulled Harry to the ground with him, and they started to kiss. "Oh Harry…you looked so beautiful tonight…" Harry groaned softly as Neville unbuttoned the front of his robes slowly, kissing his neck and whispering assurances in his ear.

"Let me love you Harry." Neville said softly, undoing his own pants, and then the rest of Harry's robes. Harry nodded wordlessly, both of them groaning as they pulled off their clothes, freezing their asses off. Neville cast warming charms around them, lying Harry on their clothes on the ground. They traced their hands all over each other, kissing and exploring each other properly for once, not hurried one offs in the middle of the night, or a quick snog…Harry could feel their magic humming around them.

"Neville... It's...winter solstice...did you realise..." Harry whispered at the thought.

Neville looked down at him for a moment. "Yes. Let me..."

He raised a hand, summoning their tools from the dorm. They stared down at each other, their eyes locked.

"What do you want Harry?" Neville murmured.

"I want to be with you always...to keep you safe...is there something we could do?"

"I think I remember a ritual..." Neville kissed Harry softly as the bag landed nearby.

He got up, opening it, setting the candles around them. Harry flicked his wrist, lighting them all. Neville pulled out the athame and set it next to Harry. Harry wasnt sure which ritual this was, but apparently Neville did. Neville put their robes outside the circle, leaving the boys nude on the charmed snow.

Neville kneeled in front of him, putting the athame to his wrist. Harry's eyes widened. "Neville..."

"Shh...it'll be okay. I promise." Neville cut vertically, a short one inch slice, handing the athame to Harry. Harry silently cut his arm the same way. Blood spilled from their wrists onto the white snow, and Harry looked to Neville.

Neville leant forward, putting their wrists together, kissing him softly. "My blood will be part of yours, as much as I am a part of you."

Harry felt his eyes burn as he repeated it. The magic in the clearing was heavy now, and it pressed against their skin.

"Will you be mine, Harry James Potter-Black, as much as I am yours?"

"Yes..." Harry replied softly.

"And will you be mine, Neville Frank Longbottom...as much as I am yours?"

Neville nodded, kissing him once more. He took his arm away, and their cuts had healed. Neville pushed Harry to lie down under him. Harry stared up at Neville.

"What magic is this Neville, what does this do?"

Neville gave him a small smile. "Just...a promise. That's all." Neville covered Harry's body with his own, kissing him.

Harry cried out as Neville began to prepare him slowly, moving between his legs. Harry threw his head back. "Please…please Nev…" Harry breathed, pulling the boy as close as he could. Neville entered Harry slowly, their eyes locked.

They could feel a tingle all over their skin, starting from their toes all the way up to the ends of their hair. "Fuck…Nev…move…" Harry grunted, and Neville began to move slowly. They clutched each other, struggling to breath, and it felt so good, so perfect…

Harry could feel Neville shooting up inside of him now, it was so amazing…he came with a cry, falling into darkness.

Neville woke first, with a slight frown. The forest was wild tonight. The forest…he smiled, looking down at Harry, remembering. He stared, looking around them. White flowers surrounded them, nearly glowing in the moonlight. Harry shifted slightly, curling closer into Neville's arms. Neville sighed, running a hand over Harry's hip, relishing in the soft skin. "Harry…we need to wake up…"

"Hmm…"

"Harry…" Harry opened his eyes with a smile. "Hi."

"Come on…we need to get back to the tower before anyone sees us."

Harry nodded, sitting up slowly. He stared around at all the flowers around them.

"What on earth…"

"Don't know. They were there when I woke up. I didnt really remember that..." Neville said softly, standing. He helped Harry stand, and the boy winced slightly.

"You okay?"

"Just a little sore…"

"I'm sorry…"

"No…it's okay Nev…" Harry kissed the other boy's cheek.

They dressed quickly, walking through the flowers carefully and cleaning up the clearing. They went into the forest, and Harry walked closely to Neville, the bigger boy putting his arms around his shoulders.

"The forest is..." He said softly, noting how it was thriving more than usual. It was usually quiet in the middle of the night, but it seemed… they glanced at each other, continuing to walk in the forest. Soft hooves approached.

"Firenze." They looked at the palomino centaur that was eyeing them carefully. He gave them a small smile, and bowed his head. He silently held out his own set of arrows and bow. "A gift to you, the first of many. I will Follow you."

Harry took the arrows and bow into his hands gently, staring up at the centaur.

"Thank you."

Firenze gave Neville and small nod, then trotted off. Harry and Neville looked to each other, and continued to walk. It wasn't much later when a huge Unicorn crossed their path. They stared in shock as it bowed to them slowly, whipping his tail, catching his hair in the branches. The Unicorn nodded to the hair, and trotted off as well. Neville took the hair into his hands, staring at it in awe.

"What on earth…"

The continued to walk, nearly to the edge of the forest as they heard a clicking sound. Harry turned, nearly fainting as he saw a medium sized Acromantula. "Father told me to give you this." It said, rolling out something towards them. Harry looked at it, and cocked his head. It was something small wrapped in webbing. He looked back to the spider.

"A token of goodwill." Harry nodded, and Neville picked it up. They finally reached the edge of the forest, going out onto the grounds. Hagrid came forward with a warm smile. "Hello boys."

They followed him reluctantly to his cabin, eager to put all this stuff down.

They settled in their seats, and Hagrid finally spoke. "Something big happened tonight. I don't know exactly what, but I felt it. And judging by your gifts…" Hagrid went quiet.

"You are in the Circle aren't you? It's your group." He said finally, almost whispering.

They both nodded. Hagrid sighed in relief. "There've been rumors goin' around for the last year or so about a Circle forming in England, and quite a few of us were worried You Know Who had finally joined up with some people…"

Harry frowned. "Who knows?"

Hagrid looked thoughtful. "Well…nearly everybody in Knockturne, I mean there was a kid there summer before last, getting to know… who was it? Everyone thought they were under a glamour…"

Harry grinned. "It was me."

Hagrid gasped. "Harry Potter, Knockturne Alley is mighty dangerous, especially for you…"

"Not really. If the rumors are to be believed."

Hagrid laughed. "You're right…those people really took a shining to you…could you just imagine if they knew the truth…"

"What…what would happen?" Harry whispered, eyes wide.

Hagrid grinned. "You'd have yourself an army, that's what. Think about it Harry, if they knew that you were Harry Potter, could you imagine how many of them would side with you? They already feel you're powerful, add your name to it…well…"

Harry and Neville exchanged a look.

"You know Who's comin' back, that's what the rumors say, no one wants to believe it though… what will you do if it happens?"

Harry frowned. "I'll work as hard as I can to keep everyone alive. That's what will happen."

Hagrid nodded. "Dumbledore doesn't know…I'm surprise he hasn't figured it out, he usually knows everythin… he thinks it's You know Who."

Harry looked down to their gifts. "So…why did they do this?"

Hagrid eyed the stuff carefully. "Well, it looks like the Centaurs will be ready for war when you are Harry, and judging on how quick they got it to you tonight, they've been waiting for it. Less see…this Unicorn Hair is from the Head, he's in charge you see…he was real big, right?" They both nodded.

"They'll help if they can, they'll guard the forest." Hagrid looked to the small bundle wrapped in spider webs. He smiled faintly. "Good old Aragog. They were very thankful you killed off that Basilisk, they're just returning the help." He pointed to the bundle. "There's an egg in there, too small for a dragon egg, but it's not a Acromantula egg either. I don' know what it is. Don't take off the wrapping though, it's keeping the egg warm and safe until it hatches."

"What if…it's something dangerous?" Harry said carefully.

Hagrid laughed. "Nah, it wont be dangerous, to you anyways. It was given to you, whatever it is, you'll be able to control it."

Harry stared at the egg in wonder. "I wonder what it is."

"You can keep this stuff here Harry. They wouldn't mind, it's not safe, keeping it in the castle…and I can figure out what this egg is for you."

"Thank you Hagrid…"

Harry and Neville stood. Hagrid hugged Harry tightly. "You're welcome Harry. Now, let me escort you two back to the castle."

Chapter: 15

**A Full Circle Chapter Fifteen: Tokens**

Harry told the others what had happened, minus the sex. All of them didn't know what to think about this new development. It was odd though. For days, there would be little tokens or gifts left on the dormitory windowsill, or brought in by Hedwig (only outside the Great Hall). A lot of the times, it was flowers, twigs, and berries, and Harry kept them all safe in a chest under his bed, the smaller things anyways, the rest went to Hagrid for now. It was very odd. He had a feeling he should keep everything that was given to him...

Harry stood on the shore of the lake, shivering. Neville had been missing since last night, and he couldn't contact him through their bond. It was time for the second task. A gunshot fired off, and he swallowed the gillyweed, jumping into the water.

He saw Grindylows as he passed, and they stayed out of his way, except for one, who tied a bit of seaweed around his ankle. Harry gave them a grateful look, swimming off. He heard the mermaids singing, and he got there first. He looked around, seeing Gabrielle, Fluer's little sister, floating alongside Neville, Hermoine, and Cho. He panicked, untying Neville's bindings first, then went to get Gabrielle's. The mermaid nearby shook her head. "Only yours."

"But I have to save them-"

"Only yours-"

Out of nowhere, Victor came up, with a shark head, snatching Hermoine quickly. Cedric came soon, and grabbed Cho, without looking back. Harry panicked, not seeing Fluer. He glanced to the triangle scar in his hand, and went ahead and grabbed Gabrielle, pulling her up to the surface with Neville.

Fluer was frantic, as soon as she saw her sister, she cried out. "Gabrielle!" They swam towards her, and the little girl was gathered in her sister's arms, both of them speaking rapid French. Harry got up on the platform, leaning on Neville.

"You saved her! Thank you!" Fluer cried, kissing his cheeks. Harry gave her a small smile, exhausted. He glanced down to see a string of tiny pearls around his ankle, along with the strip of seaweed the Grindylows had given him.

He ended up tying with Victor. He glanced over to the boy to see he and Hermoine huddled together, talking. They glanced his way, giving him small smiles. Harry waved, curling into Neville's side, falling asleep.

"Harry…how are you feeling?" Sirius said, sitting on the edge of his bed as Harry woke up.

"Fine…tired. That gillyweed messed me up, I think." Remus gave him a small smile, brushing the bangs out of his face. They were in the hospital wing now.

"well, yes, your animagus form isn't a water animal…"

With his transformation, Harry had only gotten to discovering he had black fur, but other than that, none of the others had gotten as far as he.

"I hope it doesn't set me back…" harry said softly, yawning.

"you were so brave Harry…we're so proud of you." Sirius said, a grin on his face. Harry smiled, closing his eyes again as he fell asleep once more.

Harry cried out in the middle of the night. Neville was used to Harry having nightmares, but this sounded different. "Harry? Wake up."

He heard Ron mumbling from the next bed over.

"Harry…are you okay?" He whispered. Harry opened his eyes, tears falling out. "Lucius Malfoy is helping…him. They're planning something, I just know it…"

"Damn. Should we go to Severus tomorrow?"

"No…I think I should go to Dumbledore. I just…get this feeling I should." Neville frowned. "Alright…try to get some sleep Harry."

They woke up the next morning to chuckling. Harry opened his eyes slowly, gasping as he saw Dean and Seamus at their bedside. "Woah, what happened here?"

It was a good thing they were dressed.

"Harry had a night mare last night. He didn't want to wake the rest of you guys up."

Luckily, this would pass, as Harry had a lot of nightmares, especially when he wasn't sleeping with Neville.

Dean frowned. "Are you okay?"

Harry sat up slowly, looking down. "I'm fine… He said softly, getting out of the bed.

He passed by Ron, who was looking at him worriedly. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Ron…I'll talk to Dumbledore later." Harry said, getting his clothes together.

Ron went quiet, turning back to his bed.

He went to the Headmaster's office after classes that day. Dumbledore was talking to Fudge when he got there, and Dumbledore escorted Fudge away. He got the impression they'd been talking about him before he'd entered the room, but shrugged it off.

The office was empty now, and he looked around. He smiled faintly at the sorting hat as he passed, and he saw Fawkes. The bird trilled to him in greeting, and the bird preened under his petting

"_Nice to see you again, Mr. Potter…it's been a while."_

"_Yes it has."_

"_You've grown up quite a bit since we last met…that makes me happy."_

"_Thanks Fawkes…so how is life in Dumbledore's office?"_

"_Dreadfully boring, actually. All he does is talk to people, fill out paperwork and hand out lemon drops by the bucket."_

"_Good thing I don't like lemon drops then."_

"_Good thing. Take a peek at the penseive over there, he left it open for you. Oh, and give Mr. Longbottom my regards."_

"_Of course. Thank you Fawkes."_

Harry looked away from the Phoenix's eyes, opening the cabinet slowly, seeing a silvery light.

It was a total set up. Dumbledore wanted Harry to find out that Snape was a Deatheater at one point, as well as Karkaroff and Barty Crouch Jr., and warning him about the fate of Neville's parents. Like he already didn't know all of that. Dumbledore arrived, his eyes twinkling, just in time for the memory to end.

"So, Mr. Potter, what brings you to my office?"

"I had a vision sir. I think Lucius Malfoy is helping Voldemort. They killed a woman, Bertha Jenkins. I…think they're planning something big."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "Hmm…Lucius Malfoy…you're friends with Mr. Malfoy now, aren't you?"

Harry nodded, wondering what Dumbledore was planning. "And it seems you are quite close to Mr. Longbottom now…and Miss Granger."

Harry frowned. "Yes sir. I am."

"I heard you have a quite popular study group now. You have nearly all the first and second years now, from all four houses, and a select group of older meet once week at the library."

"Yes sir." Harry was wondering how on earth the Headmaster could know, they would have seen or heard him...

"What do you study?"

Harry felt like he was being interrogated, so he answered truthfully. "Everything we need to know for classes, sir… I mean, before, Hermoine, Draco and I had the highest grades in the school, and we constantly competing each other. We thought it better that we work together."

"That's a very nice concept Mr. Potter, and you've made a difference in the students grades, I'm sure…however, it's a very exclusive study group, isnt it?"

"Well…yes sir. We only take those we know that could handle getting over house differences…we know the younger students can do that better, as they haven't been here that long…we don't want to cause rifts in the group…sir." Harry said, acting confused. Internally, his mind was racing, wondering if Dumbledore knew…

"I've also noticed you've been quite hospitable to our guests this year, making them quite welcome…even Miss Granger is dating Mr. Krum."

"Well…yes. I mean, after all, this competition is used to spread good will between the schools…"

Something shone in Dumbledore's eyes. "Of course. But…perhaps extend the invitation to your little…study group to others. It would be fair, yes?"

Harry nodded slowly, looking down. "I don't mean to exclude Ron sir, he just causes a lot of problems with the others. I've tried being nice to him, but he makes it rather impossible if he's insulting my other friends." Harry said softly, acting reluctant.

He glanced up, seeing Dumbledore lean back in his chair. "Well…perhaps if Mr. Weasley was given a second chance, he could be quite an asset to your group."

"Yes sir." Harry said

Harry woke up in the hospital wing again. He was surrounded by his friends, Sirius was in his animagus form at the foot of his bed, and Remus was at his side, staring at him solemnly. The rest of his friends were asleep.

Remus gave him a small unsure smile. "How are you feeling Harry?"

"Awful." He glanced down to the bandage in the crook of his arm. He sighed. Another scar.

Neville stirred slowly, hugging him tightly.

"Harry…oh gosh, is it true? Is he really back? Dumbledore made the announcement last night…"

Harry nodded. He glanced to Ron and Ginny in the corner, the twins waking up slowly. Upon Dumbledore's…orders, he allowed Ginny and Ron into their study group, and so far, they'd kept their lips zipped about the Slytherins. The Slytherins in the group, on the other hand, completely ignored the red heads, which was better than what could have happened. Ron and Ginny had no clue about the Circle, like some of the others, so they had to be careful even more about what they said around them.

"So…what's going to happen this summer?"

Remus sighed. "Since Grimmauld Place is already under Fidelis, Dumbledore wants us to use it as HQ…" Harry's jaw dropped. "You aren't going to…"

"It would make things a bit easier, to know what's going on, Harry." Remus whispered.

Harry sighed. "HQ? So..the Order is going to be reformed?"

Remus nodded. "Yep."

"So…whose all staying there?" Neville asked, glancing to Harry.

Remus gave them a small smile. "You're welcome to stay, and your Gran is invited as well. So are the Weasleys, Draco, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood, and Miss Bones."

"It's going to be…quite full." Harry said reluctantly.

Remus shrugged. "There will be a lot of other members, but they wont be staying at the house."

"That's good."

"You're lucky you two are getting your own room." Remus murmured, glancing to the others. Harry grinned, squeezing Neville's hand. "Thanks Remmy."

"Thank your Godfather, the man was insistent. He thinks you should…" The man went slightly pink. "Have some way of dealing with stress."

Harry stifled his laughter, trying to keep the others from waking.

Chapter: 16

**A Full Circle Chapter Sixteen: Order of the Fried Chickens**

"Damn Malfoy, move out of the way!" Ron yelled on the landing of the stairs, a big box in his hands. Draco glared at him. The full moon was coming up, and he was just a little tightly strung… if Weasley messed with him one more time, he was going to bite the ginger kid!

He moved out of the way, allowing the red head to come down the stairs. He could have tripped the boy easily, but he was supposed to play the nice little Slytherin. He scowled, going up the stairs. Luna came out of the room she shared with Hermoine, Susan, and Ginny, and hugged him tightly in the hallway.

"Hello Draco." She said dreamily, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Luna…this place is a nut house." Draco muttered, looking down to the floor.

She grinned, kissing him on the cheek. "Come on, I'll make you feel better…"

He grinned wolfishly, her dragging him by the hand into the bedroom.

They started to kiss, sitting on the end of her bed, their arms around each other. He held her tightly, and was about to start kissing down her neck when the door opened, revealing Hermoine and Ginny. They stopped kissing, looking to the girls in the doorway.

Ginny gasped. "Luna, you're not supposed to have the boys in here…"

Luna just grinned, pulling away from Draco slowly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Oh come on, if Dean Thomas was here…or Harry, you'd be on him like a flash." Draco said, standing.

Ginny flushed angrily. "Ooh! You're awful Draco Malfoy! I do not have a crush on Harry-"

"That's good." Hermoine said, going to her bed, searching through the trunk of books under her bed.

"What does that mean?" Ginny scowled at her.

"I have just as much chance as any other girl…"

"_Which is none…"_ Hermoine thought, making Draco and Luna grin widely.

Ginny saw that, and scowled at them now. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing…"

She rolled her eyes, slamming the door behind her.

They burst out laughing as soon as she left.

Susan walked in the door, frowning. "What was Ginny so upset about?"

"Harry."

"Oh…" She giggled.

Neville nuzzled Harry's neck as he woke. He was spooned behind the smaller boy and it was early in the morning, and they had alot to do today...there was no privacy in this place. They'd put on silencing charms soon enough, so no one in the house could hear them, but still. He'd woken up early enought though, to know they wouldnt be bothered... Harry smiled sleepily as Neville slid his hand down Harry's chest, his fingers brushing his nipples. Harry turned his head, kissing the other boy lazily, tongues mixing. He smiled as he pressed back against Neville, feeling how hard the boy was. Neville quickly pulled down Harry's pajama pants down to his thighs, then his own.

Harry gasped, feeling the boy move him on his stomach, Neville getting on top of him and preparing him. He closed his eyes as he breathed into the pillows. It was so hot in the room and under the blankets, but still... Neville entered Harry slowly, his hands gripping the smaller boy's hips tightly. Harry bit his hand, stifling his groan. Finally, he couldnt take it anymore. "Oh…Merlin, you're so…"

The door opened, and both boys froze. Sirius was there, bright red. "Never mind." He just backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"You'd think he'd learn how to knock." Harry muttered as Neville pulled out with a defeated sigh.

"I know…that's the third time…you'd think he'd actually want to see us…"

"Ew…Neville…that's gross." Neville just chuckled, looking down at the boy.

"There are way too many people in this house."

"It's your fault you forgot to put up the locking spells."

"Actually, it's yours, you distracted me-"

Harry sat at the kitchen table, pushing the food around his plate. There was going to be another Order meeting tonight. Mrs. Weasley was already trying to clear the room.

"Molly, the children are more than old enough to just sit in the meeting, they aren't doing anything…" Remus said placatingly.

"But it's dangerous, then they'll want to be in the Order and do-" Molly cried, interrupted by Sirius.

"Harry's faced Voldemort more than anyone else here, I don't see why he cant come to the meetings, at least-"

"Now, now Sirius, Harry is still a student." Dumbledore said, entering the room.

Sirius scowled at the man darkly. "He's quite old enough, and he'll be able to help us now-"

"when he graduates Hogwarts. Just like the rest of the Order. We cannot use witches and wizards who aren't of age-"

"But we're of age-" George called out.

"But you haven't graduated." Molly glared at the twins.

The rest of the students began to clean up the table, but Harry stayed behind.

"Sir…why cant I help?"

Dumbledore twinkled at him. "You've done more than enough Harry. You do need time for some fun. I think we should arrange for everyone to go to Diagon Alley soon, to get your school things…"

Harry sighed. "Fine."

He walked out the door, glancing at Bill Weasley as he passed. The man stopped mid step, blinked twice, then went on into the room. Harry went up the stairs into the room he and Neville shared. He frowned as he saw everyone there, sitting on their beds on the floor.

"Why does everyone always come here? I…sort of wanted to be alone." He said softly.

Ginny smiled at him sweetly. "Aw, Harry, we're your friends, don't be like that."

He glanced at her hands, which were covered in dirt. "What happened?"

She grinned. "There's a charm on the door. Tonks told me how to check…I flung dungbonbs at it, they bounced right off…"

"Yeah, the ears don't work either." Fred said with a mournful sigh.

Harry sat on the bed next to Neville. "This is ridiculous. Why cant we go to the meeting?"

Draco yawned, stretching. He could feel Ginny's eyes watching him. He rolled his eyes. "So…what did Dumbledore say?"

"Said we can go to Diagon Alley soon for our school things."

"I wonder who will escort us." Hermoine said idly, glancing to Ginny and Ron.

"Probably Moody, Tonks, Shacklebolt, Remmy, and Sirius. At least with them, it'll be fun."

"Moody's really creepy." Ginny said, shivering.

Neville shrugged. "He's an old friend of my family's. He came to manor a few times to help me train up a bit over the summers."

Ron frowned, crossing his arms. Harry ignored it, yawning. "So, we should probably make a list of things to buy while we're out." He gave Hermoine a Look.

"Course." Hermoine said, pulling out a parchment.

"Quills."

"Lots of Parchment."

"All of our books of course…"

"What about the new supplementary book of runes-"

It eventually went to talk of books and Ron soon yawned, checking his watch. "Um…I'm gonna go, I'll see all of you later." He stood. "Coming Ginny?"

"Yeah…" She stood, walking out with him.

"I'd thought they'd never leave." Susan said softly with a sigh.

"Don't you think it's a little suspicious that we get to go to Diagon Alley, even though Voldemort had just officially come back?"

"Well, yeah-"

The door opened again, revealing Bill, Fluer, and Remus.

They all went silent, staring up at them. Bill's eyes widened. "No way…you were telling the truth." He turned to Fluer. She just winked at him.

"I've got to go, see you later Bill." She walked off.

"see you later Bill." The twins echoed in falsetto voices.

Remus closed the door behind him. "Bill is interested in the Circle."

Bill nodded. "The Goblins are going crazy about it, they've been trying to figure out the real identity of the Leader…is that you Harry?"

Harry nodded reluctantly. Bill grinned widely. "You better go see them, because they definitely want to talk to you about something big."

The others exchanged a look.

"Have you told this to Dumbledore?"

Bill shook his head.

"Good. Keep it that way for now."

"I cant join the Circle, because of my affiliations with the bank, but I support you guys 100, this is amazing…" He murmured.

"Welcome to the dark side." The twins grinned, clapping him on the back.

"Join the long haired posse." Hermoine said, giggling.

The twins looked to her in surprise. "What did you say? I thought you said-"

"Posse. Muggle term, meaning gang." She said shortly.

"Oh, because I thought you said puss-"

"So! Um, care to be one of our escorts to Diagon Alley, Bill?"

Harry and his friends walked down Diagon Alley, all their hoods up on their robes. It was pouring rain outside, a dreadful day to shop, but the only day Dumbledore managed to arrange for them. Dumbledore had also conviently arranged for Harry's money to be sent to the house, for safety reason, of course. Harry wouldnt be able to go to Gringott's without someone noticing, as it was in the busier parts of the Alley. Since their hoods were all up, it was quite easy for Harry and Neville to slip away to Knockturne Alley while everyone else was at the apothecary, the entrance was very close by. Worn looking people actually stopped in the street and stared as they passed, whispers following them as they entered a dingy looking pub. All the occupants of the pub went silent and looked to the two hooded figures in the doorway.

Harry went to the barman, bringing back his hood slightly. The barman's eyes widened as he saw his face. "Last time I was here, I was Sean O' Mally." The man grinned widely, leaning on the bar.

"We'll I'll be. So, Leader, can I offer you a pint? On the house."

"Can't. Just wanted to spread the word. We had to sneak away."

"Course, course." The bar man leaned forward, dropping his voice to a whisper as he glanced towards Neville.

"I'll let everyone know, you can count on us. Watch out for Greyback and his people though, we're not with them."

"Of course. Thank you."

"Are you sure I can't offer you a pint?"

"Nah, too young." Harry said, his voice carrying.

The barman laughed. "Right you are. See you around Leader?"

"Yep. See you." Harry motioned for Neville to follow him out of the bar.

The pub filled with whispers as soon as they left, and a lot of people looked to the owner.

"Who was it?" "It was just a kid-" "What's the bloke's name?" "Who was that other kid-"

"That was Harry Potter and a friend of his. He used to be…Sean O'Mally. He's the Leader of the English Circle."

Everyone's jaw dropped, and there were more whispers.

"I think a toast is in order-" "Yeah, for good luck!"

"A toast to our old friend Sean O'Mally, the craziest Boy Who Lived!" They all raised their pints, drinking them down.

Chapter: 17

**A Full Circle Chapter Seventeen: The D.A. or, the Dumbed Down Circle**

Harry and Neville slipped back into their group, just in time to go to the bookstore. They'd separated into smaller groups, Bill, Tonks and Remus taking Ginny, Susan, Draco, and Ron to the Quidditch store, and Neville, Hermoine, Luna, the twins, and Harry to the bookstore. Harry had just had Sirius shrink his books down for him when the street got unbearably cold.

Harry's eyes widened, and Sirius grimaced, clutching his head.

"Damn! Dementors-"

Harry got his wand out as he saw two dementors flying towards their group. "Expecto-" Harry was distracted by a group of shoppers pushing past him in fear. Sirius collapsed to the ground, shaking. "Expecto Patronum!" Harry, Moody, and Shacklebolt called out.

There spell faltered, and he felt Neville grab his hand tightly. They glanced to each other, and cast the spell again. "EXPECTO Patronum!"

There seemed to be an explosion of bright white light, and both boys fell back against the back fire. Harry sat up, seeing the dementors were gone.

"I don't know that the hell that was kid, but good going." Moody muttered, helping them back up.

Sirius slowly stood as Remus and the others streaked down the street towards them. "What happened?"

"We're fine…I think we should go back though…" Harry said, looking back up at the sky.

Harry saw an owl fly towards them in the rain, letters landing in his hands and Neville's. Moody grimaced. Harry read it and growled. "Damn Ministry….er no offense Moody."

"None taken Potter. Come on, let's go."

Harry and Neville stared up at the wizengamot, and quite a few of them were giving him strange looks, glancing between them and Dumbledore. What was up with these people?

Dumbledore was annoying too, the man wouldn't even look at him…

His case had been dismissed easily, as there had been plenty of witnesses, Harry just had the feeling the Ministry (or Fudge more accurately) wanted to show him and Dumbledore who's boss.

As they stood to leave, Madam Bones pulled Harry aside. "How is my niece doing?"

"She's doing really well. She talks a lot of you."

"In a good way, I hope." She smiled.

"Yes. She really looks up to you ma'am."

She winked. "I don't think I'm the only one she looks up to, Mr. Potter."

Harry smiled. "Well, I wish we could have met under better circumstances…"

She nodded, glancing to the others behind her, who were watching them carefully.

"Yes, well, that might happen in the future." She gave him a small smile, and shook his hand.

"Umbridge is a bitch." Harry said to Draco. The blonde boy looked up from his magazine, frowning. "Harry?"

"She was at my trial. I've heard all sorts of rumors about her over the years and…I just heard tonight from Sirius that she's going to be teaching DADA this year."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "This is the same Umbridge that proposed all that anti- werewolf legislation?"

"Yep."

"What the hell was Dumbledore thinking! If she finds out about me, she'll expel me, or try to euthanize me or something…"

Luna shivered, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Please don't say that."

Draco sighed, calming down. "So…what are we going to do?"

"She already hates me, I can tell by the way she talked to me…she thinks I'm some…child. We're going to have to be extra careful around her this year. It doesn't help about what the Daily Prophet is saying about me…"

Harry smirked, flopping on his bed, "But then again, there's a lot of hate mail from our Friends who don't agree with them…"

Draco grinned wolfishly, eyes flashing.

Hermoine scrunched up her nose, feeling it itch, along with the rest of her skin. Their group was finally coming along on their animagus training, it was taking forever, along with what else they had to do.

She suddenly sprouted blue feathers on her skin. Draco started to laugh. "Shut up." Hermoine growled.

The others had finally discovered the secret project Draco was working on, and he developed his werewolf form into his animagus form. He was able to transform anytime now. They wished they could teach the other werewolves that, but the only way Draco was able to do it was because he was part of their Circle, and had a larger access to his magic than most.

Harry was sitting in front of the mirror. Batting at his reflection. He was a black panther…who was totally attracted to mirrors.

Neville was lounging on his bed lazily, as a lion, half asleep from working on his form.

Luna had already transformed into a pidgeon and back, and was sitting on Draco's lap. It seemed like a rather sedate animagus form for someone like Luna, but she explained that it'd probably be the best for the war, well, who could argue with that? The twins were currently distracting Ron and Ginny with Susan, and they would join them later.

Hermoine felt herself finally shrink down. She hopped over to the mirror, landing on top of Harry's head. She chirped. "I'm a blue bird!"

Harry looked up at her, shaking his head, making her topple off. She quickly started to flap her wings, fluttering to the ground.

Since Hermoine and Luna were both birds, and smaller animals, that would make them less noticeable, quite like one of their newest 'friends' Rita Skeeter. Well, they really werent friends at all, just that Hermoine blackmailed the woman into giving the scoop of her life on the Circle when they were ready to come out to the public. But only if she shut up about Harry for now.

She transformed back grinning widely. Harry prowled around to the bed, jumping on top of Neville. The two big cats wrestled on the bed, and Hermoine rolled her eyes. "Stop fooling around you two, you can do it when we leave…"

They both transformed back at the same time, Harry on top of Neville, both of them flushing. "That was mean Hermoine."

Hermoine put her hand on her hip. "I'm going to go see how the others are faring."

When they arrived back to school, Harry felt something…different about the castle. He couldn't quite place it. He gave a look to Neville as they passed through the threshold, going into the Great Hall.

Harry watched in ill disguised disgust while Umbridge made her speech to the student body. He could hear Draco growling through their bond, and Luna was trying to placate him.

Harry had a feeling Draco might do something stupid this year.

Harry arrived to the tower that night, a little late, as he'd run into a few kids from their study group the year before, asking if first years would be joining. When he got up to the room, he could hear Seamus, Dean, and Ron fighting. Harry opened the door with frown. They all went quiet. He could see Neville standing by the window, looking outside.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing Harry." Ron said easily, going to his bed.

Harry frowned, and started to walk towards Neville, but Ron called him over. "Hey Harry, we should go over those quidditch plans-"

"Um…later." Harry mumbled, going towards Neville. Harry stood in front of him, putting a hand on his arm. He looked into the boy's eyes. He didn't see the other three boys watching them out of the corner of their eyes.

"Neville, what's wrong?"

"Nothing…I'll tell you later." Harry frowned at the tone in Neville's voice.

"_Neville…what's wrong?"_

"_Seamus doesn't believe Voldemort came back. He believes the Daily Prophet. Ron was being an arse to Seamus, and Dean…he said some stuff about you."_

"_Like?"_

"_How you're so secretive. I think they suspect something. I don't think we should risk sleeping together for a little while."_

They both looked at the same time to the other boys. All three boys looked away. Harry sighed, going to his own bed.

He dressed quickly for the night and started to brush his hair out, sitting at the foot of his bed.

"Hey, Harry, don't you want to cut your hair? I mean, it'll get in the way when you fly…" Ron said, looking up from his quidditch magazine.

Harry paused in brushing his hair. "I can pull it back like Angelina does, it's not a big deal Ron, it's just hair…"

"If it's just hair, why do you care if it's long or short?"

Harry frowned. "I don't say anything to you because your hair is red, do I?" he snapped.

Ron made a face. "Your friend Malfoy does."

Harry sighed. "Good night Ron." He closed the curtains around him, lying back in his bed, scowling.

He heard Dean and Seamus whisper for a bit, and he turned over, hugging his pillow. He missed Neville already.

He woke with a scream, falling off his bed. It was another night mare. He wiped away his tears, now aware that all his roommates were up and staring at him.

"Sorry. Nightmare." Harry muttered, picking himself up. He looked back to Neville, and the boy was looking back at him sadly. He glanced to Ron, who was watching him. "You okay Harry?"

"I'm Fine." Harry said, going back in his bed, pulling the curtains around himself before he started to cry.

Neville couldn't sleep. Harry had a nightmare, he felt awful for not lying there with him…he had to do something. He pulled back his curtains slowly looking around. All of his roommate's bed curtains were closed, it looked like they were all asleep.

He snuck out of his bed slowly, creeping out. He glanced around, slipping into Harry's bed. Harry opened his eyes slowly, feeling Neville slip into the bed with him. Neville pulled him into his arms automatically and they both went to sleep.

It was Hogsmeade weekend, and Harry was to meet some people who were interested in joining the Defense Association. Ron thought it was a good idea since Umbridge wasn't teaching practical work. Harry was reluctant to do it, as their other study group had only focused on bookwork and theory, it was quite another thing for…dueling. He was afraid those in the Circle would be noticeably stronger than those who werent, and people would notice.

Harry sighed, sitting at the bar. Of all places, Ron thought it was a good idea to choose the Hog's Head. Harry was slightly worried about meeting there, for fear of one of Umbridge's minions to catch them.

Harry was sipping on his butter beer when his 'regular' study group came in. He smiled at them as they sat down off the side. The Circle came in together, along with Draco's Slytherin friends. Harry's smile went wider. There was already 30 people here. He watched Ron and Ginny, along with the twins lead in another large group, and then another small group of Cho and her giggling girlfriends.

Harry eyed the group carefully, not saying a word. There would be about 50 people in the group, including the younger students in first and second years that was in his study group. How was he going to teach 50 people? He could handle his study group and the Circle, as he'd worked with them already, but…50 people!

"Hi. I'm Harry Potter. We've all gathered here today because we need to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"That's right, that Umbridge isn't teaching us properly." Ernie Macmillan said, crossing his arms.

Harry frowned slightly. "We reckon that the ministry is too scared to get us trained up, who knows why, but we need to learn how to defend ourselves…because Voldemort is back."

Many of the students flinched. "Voldemort." They flinched again. Harry shook his head.

"How do we know he's back?" One of Cho's friends called out.

Harry frowned. "If you're here just to hear the story about what happened last year, you can leave." No one left. But some looked guilty.

"So, what are we going to learn in a club like this?"

"The basics, expellaramous, some blocking spells, maybe the Patronus by Christmas…"

The others looked excited at that. Harry internally sighed.

"So, what is this club called?"

"Defense Association. The DA."

"Boring, how about Dumbledore's Army?" Ginny suggested with a grin.

Harry's eye twitched. "I think DA will suffice." He said shortly. The others shrugged.

"I don't think it matters what it's called, as long as we have it." Susan said softly.

Harry nodded. "So." He pulled out a parchment. "Sign your names here, if you want to sign up. But…you cant tell anyone else about the group, or…you'll regret it. This parchment's been spelled for someone who snitches." Ginny, who just signed, paled slightly. "What does it do?"

"Lets us know who tells. It's a precaution so Umbridge wont find out." Ginny looked to the Slytherins, as did Ron. "How do we know they wont snitch?"

Daphne frowned. "Hey, for your information, we've been in Harry's study group the entire last year." Many of the others nodded that surrounded them.

Ron looked to Harry in shock. "Is this true Harry? You let…Slytherins into your study group before me and Ginny?" He almost sounded betrayed, and Harry felt a little guilty.

Harry frowned. "That attitude is exactly why I waited Ron." He turned to the others. "You can only participate in the group if you're willing to work together. I'm already telling you that you'll be working with people in other houses. If you don't want to do that, don't come."

The others looked a little surprised at his attitude.

"_Way to go Harry!"_ Hermoine called out through the bond.

Harry watched the rest of them sign. Cho gave him a warm smile, leaning forward as she signed, her shirt showing off her…assets. Harry frowned as she walked out. Damn. Just what he needed, another girl after him.

Chapter: 18

**A Full Circle Chapter Eighteen: Hagrid's Trip**

Harry and Neville laid in bed together just before dawn. "I need to get up soon before the others wake up." Harry whispered, sitting up in the bed.

"Wait." Neville said softly, pulling him into a kiss. Harry smiled, nuzzling the other boy in the neck. "I've got to go."

He went to the bathroom and started up the shower. He heard the bathroom door open and close after him, and he heard someone at the sink, brushing their teeth.

Harry waited for the water to heat up, pulling off his t shirt. "Hey, Harry." Dean called out.

"Hi..?" Harry replied finally, stilling. Something didnt feel right. It made him nervous. He could hear Dean turn off the sink. He pulled back the curtains to the shower section, seeing Harry half dressed.

"What's up with you and Neville?"

Harry looked away. "Nothing."

"It's something…why do you go to him when you have nightmares? You do it an awful lot."

Harry paused, pulling out his ponytail.

"He's just being nice."

"I'd be careful. I mean…I think he likes you…that way."

Harry froze, looking to the black boy. "So?"

Dean walked closer with a slight frown. "You don't care?"

Harry's heart beat faster. "He's just a friend, Dean."

"So…if he's just a friend…I can do this…" Dean kissed him hard. Harry pulled away, pushing him out of the way and going to the doorway.

Dean tugged on his hand, pulling on him. "You're lying Harry, just tell me the truth…"

Harry looked away. "I don't have to tell you anything…."

"Let him go." Harry looked over to see Neville in the doorway, his face pale.

Dean pulled away quickly, watching Neville come towards them. Neville was bigger than him…so it was understandable.

Neville pulled Harry close, wrapping an arm around Harry's waist. Harry buried his face in Neville's shoulder.

Dean stared. "So…you are together."

Neville nodded slowly. "And you better not tell anyone, I mean it Dean."

Dean gulped, nodding. "I'm sorry…I…I wont tell anyone." He saw the power in Neville's eyes, and the boy was…angry. Dean thought Harry was pretty, but he was sort of jealous about how much time the two boys spent together, and now he knew why.

He looked to Harry. "I'm sorry…I just…sorry."

Harry nodded, not meeting his eyes.

Dean walked out of the bathroom quickly, leaving them alone. Harry looked at Neville. Neville squeezed him, guiding him to the showers. "The others will be up soon. Go ahead and get cleaned up."

Harry nodded, going to his shower.

Ron was oblivious to the drama that morning, as he was trying out for the Quidditch Team. Harry had detention…again with Umbridge. Harry really hated that woman.

Hagrid had finally returned to Hogwarts and he had big news for Harry. Harry and Hermoine had gone down to meet the man, as the others were quite busy doing homework and other things. They came to Hagrid's cabin, and Hagrid was grinning widely at Harry.

"You, Harry, are very lucky." Harry stared. "What are you talking about?"

"Apparently word has spread about your little Circle. I've been helpin' it along, mind you, but you should hear some of the things I've done… tea?"

Both of them nodded, grabbing the oversized tankards from the man as he slapped some green meat on his face. Hermoine grimaced. "That's disgusting…what kind of meat is that?"

"Dragon meat, nothin' wrong with it…" He accidentally dropped it, and fang started to nibble on it as Hagrid searched through his bag.

"So, where you all this time? We missed you Hagrid."

Hagrid grinned. " Well, I went with Madame Maxine on an envoy to the Giants. But we made plenty of stops along the way…word apparently got out that you are the Leader of the English Circle, Harry." Harry shrugged, sipping his tea.

Hagrid grinned. "Quite a few of the folks we bumped into are planning on coming to England soon so they can be nearby. Bill told Charlie, and he and all of his buddies will help out. We even ran into a bit of trouble in Paris with some vampires, but as soon as they recognized me as a Professor here at the school, they were asking about you and the Circle. You will not believe the following you're getting…"

Harry blinked in surprise, exchanging a look with Hermoine. She merely smiled. They never imagined the day they met would change their lives…

"Like who?" Harry finally said. Hagrid grinned, dumping out a whole bunch of items in his bag. "All tokens of appreciation. There will be more, I'm sure, but they know the Castle's being watched now, so they're storing it at Gringott's for you."

"Wow…" Harry walked over to the table, running a hand through all the trinkets that littered the table, eyeing a vial of blood. "Is this really blood?"

Hagrid nodded. "Came from a vampire, it did. Anyhow, Voldemort's been busy, trying to get their attention too, but their all avoiding him good. Some of them flat out refused him, and now they're in hiding."

"How awful…" Hermoine murmured.

"But they still support Harry, and that's what matters." Hagrid said, tipping back his tankard. "But the thing is, they wont side with Dumbledore either, only with you, and that's going to cause a problem."

Harry stared. "Why?"

Hagrid looked at Harry solemnly. "Dumbledore will be thinking whoever is doing all this…this Circle business is either Voldemort or…some one else that's dark. I have a feeling the Ministry is finally catching on too, as there is a large amount of werewolves and vampires gathering here in the UK…"

Harry looked down. "And of course, they'll think anyone associated with them is dark."

Hagrid shrugged. "The Ministry is a bunch of fools, if you ask me, don't like anyone who's different…"

Harry smiled at him hesitantly. "So…um…what are all the bruises from?"

"Oh…erm, my brother."

"You met your brother? That's great Hagrid…but…why do you still have…."

There was a sharp knock on the door. "Who's there?" Hagrid called out.

"Dolores Umbridge." Harry and Hermoine looked to each other widely, pulling Harry's cloak over them.

Hagrid opened the door to his cabin, looking down at the toadlike woman.

"Can I help ye?"

Her lips thinned. "I am Delores Umbridge, Hogwarts High Inquisitor, and DADA instructor, may I inquire to why you were gone so long?"

"I…well, I was on a trip with a friend of mine in France…for my health, you see."

"Your health?" She eyed all the cuts and bruises on his face.

"Er…yeah…I just got back tonight, I haven't even stopped to say hello to Dumbledore…"

She peered inside the doorway. "Oh..I thought I heard you talking in here…"

"I was talkin' to Fang, he was lonely." Hagrid pointed his dog in the corner.

She arched a thin eyebrow. "Er…fine. I will soon you soon."

Hagrid closed the door as she left, and he settled in his chair.

Hermoine and Harry told Hagrid about what had been happening at Hogwarts since he left. Then Hagrid went to another one of his bags, gently taking out the token Harry had gotten from the Acromantula.

"I finally figured out what this is. I've been asking around during my trip, and…well…" He gave the egg to Harry gently. He took off the Acromantula silk wrapping, like a jacket, exposing a pearly white egg.

"I've been told it's phoenix egg." Harry's jaw dropped, and Hermoine looked to Hagrid in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yep. Apparently it'll hatch when your magic gets to a certain level, So it could be six months from now, or 5 years…but it's yours. You're quite lucky Harry."

Harry eyed the egg in wonder, touching the shell gently. "And they gave it to me…how did they get one?"

"They probably found it in the forest. The only Phoenix I know is Fawkes, there's not much I know about them though." Hagrid said with a slight frown.

Harry held the phoenix egg gently in his arms, putting it back in it's wrapping. "I think I should put this somewhere safe." He said softly.

Hagrid nodded. "Keep it with you, I heard your bond will grow stronger if it's close by to you more."

Harry nodded. "I'll see you around Hagrid. Hermoine…could you grab that bag of stuff for me?" Hermoine nodded, scooping the trinkets back into the bag, looking into it. "There's more stuff in here."

"Yeah, some dragon hide boots and a set of dueling robes. Charlie and his friends got the dragon hide boots, and the dueling robes are from me and Madam Maxine."

Harry grinned, hugging Hagrid tightly. "Thank you Hagrid. Tell her thank you too."

That night, Harry snuck the bag of trinkets under his bed, next to the trunk that was already full of trinkets. He grabbed one of his pillows, fluffing it up and putting it under his bed, placing the egg gently on it.

He got up from under the bed, and lied down. He looked up the ceiling with a faint smile.

Harry walked between the DA members, correcting their stances as he walked by, adjusting their blocks. Not only were they focusing on spell work, but physical dueling like Snape had taught the Circle years before hand. The first years used long sticks twice the length of their arms, dodging and diving with ease, having tons of fun with each other, not having to worry about spells hitting them, but focusing on their movements. They worked easily within their groups, which were mixed of all four houses.

Harry had Draco help the kids out, as he was the strongest in the circle with physically dueling, and the boy was having the time of his life.

Hermoine was helping the second years along with Luna, as they were casting disarming spells and jinxes.

The twins were working with the third and fourth years, teaching them alternative spells and distractive spells, which went hand in hand with their pranks.

Harry and Neville were working with the older students. They had the most trouble, as most of them were most set in their house prejudices, and had gotten stuck in a certain dueling style already, not necessarily good for them.

As everyone was finishing up, Harry was picking up some of the cushions that had flown around the room during the practice. Hermoine and the others went on to their separate houses. Neville was waiting for Harry, but Ron dragged him off, talking about some of the spells that they covered.

Harry hadnt even noticed Cho was still in the room until she made a slight noise. Harry looked up. "Cho…"

"Hi Harry." She smiled shyly at him, walking closer. "I…wanted to thank you for doing this dueling group…I've really learned a lot."

Harry smiled. "Thanks." And he meant it. He was really happy with the progress everyone was making.

She walked a bit closer, and paused. "It makes me think how much…Cedric could have benefited from it…if he'd…" She looked down, tears in her eyes. "I…"

Harry felt a pang in his heart. He knew he would be upset if one of his friends had died… he moved closer to comfort her. "I'm sorry Cho. I wish we could have done something sooner…he was a nice guy…" He barely knew the boy, but he was trying to console the girl. "And I'm sure you miss him very much…"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, as she burst into tears and pushed herself into his arms. Harry felt slightly uncomfortable with this. He moved his arm to push her shoulder away, but she took it the wrong way and looked up at him, and kissed him.

Harry's eyes widened as he pushed her away roughly. She looked dejectedly at him. He wiped his mouth, hand trembling. He felt sick to his stomach, kissing someone else…

She stared at him. "You don't like me?" Harry shook his head silently, trying to calm himself down. He was going to have to do some damage control.

"Cho…I'm sorry…you're a wonderful girl and all, and I know a lot of people think you're very pretty…but I'm already with someone." Her eyes widened in surprise.

"You are?"

He nodded solemnly. "The only reason I haven't told anyone was because I'm worried something will happen to them…that Voldemort could use them against me…they would be a target…"

Her eyes went soft. "Oh Harry…I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay…It's just I really love them, okay? I couldn't survive if something happened to them…so…please, please, don't tell anyone else."

Cho nodded slowly, looking down. "I wont even ask who, even though I'd like to. I promise I wont tell Harry…I understand."

"Thank you Cho." Harry murmured, keeping his voice soft. Yes! Crisis averted.


End file.
